Two Worlds, One Heart
by ScarlettSlipper
Summary: Something very small can make your world flip around. A cast of favorite characters: Scarlett, Duke, Flint, Lady Jaye, Cover Girl, Shipwreck and more. Finally UPDATED,Chapter 5 UP!
1. Chapter 1

Don't own GIJOE, never will. Own my imagination only. Thank you Amy Kay and Pixie Red for Beta reading. Comments welcome. Thank you I would love to hear what you think of this story.

Scarlett Slipper

* * *

The Sky Striker squadron descended towards the long airstrip. They landed in the air field, their wheels rolling on the pavement, and coming to a halt just outside of one of the hangars. The cockpits opened and the five pilots exited the planes. Two Tomahawks landed behind the five G. I. Joe aircrafts. A dozen Greenshirts departed the aircrafts, and quickly headed towards the barracks for a long deserved rest.

The small unit of Joes started walking towards the main building, heading directly for the meeting room and one awaiting general.

Each face had a different façade, from displeasure, to stressful, from annoyance, to relief with a hint of thank goodness it's all over. Two Greenshirts followed the five soldiers.

"I wonder what's in that trunk that made us all almost lose our heads, Flint?" asked the curious voice, behind two of the members.

"Alpine, your guess is as good as mine," Flint answered, not even looking back to the object the other member indicated.

"Well, as long as it's not Pandora's box, I'll be happy," Alpine replied, glancing back towards the large green trunk.

"Alpine, Pandora's box is from Greek mythology, we brought the trunk back from China," a female's voice replied to his guessing.

"Well, maybe then Pandora's box was made in China, Lady Jaye."

"Funny, Alpine, but highly unlikely." Lady Jaye shook her head. "But I'm intrigued myself on the contents inside that trunk."

"I'm intrigued why Cobra wanted this particular old trunk in the first place," a second female's voice came from behind the couple and the mountain climber.

"Maybe old Freak Face forgot his mother's things in there, Scarlett," Alpine joked.

"Funny, Alpine." Scarlett rolled her eyes. "I don't think a pair of old bloomers would have Cobra Commander sending a few dozen Cobra B.A.T.s and two highly skilled Ninjas to retrieve a few hundred year old undergarments."

"Well, don't forget Miss O'Hara, we also had a few skilled martial arts experts," Alpine pointed out, towards the dark uniformed silent member of the team, walking beside the counterintelligence agent. "And not to mention a dozen Greenshirts."

"At least Greenshirts have brains, instead of microchips in their heads," Lady Jaye joked. "Otherwise, we would have lost this battle."

The others laughed at the covert ops. agent's humor. All but the third in command, who turned around and glared at the foursome.

"Alright, no more jokes. Whatever is in this trunk has both Hawk and Duke chewing bullets and spitting only out the shells. So I suggest you all can it."

"Goats eat cans." Alpine pointed out, but then gulped from the warrant officer's stern features.

Flint stared at the ceiling, rolled his eyes and shook his head in dismay. Then he stared at all of them, pointing with his index finger. "Alright, next one who says a joke or even thinks about a joke, is going to seeing nothing but cans for at least three weeks! Got it?"

They all nodded, afraid to even answer the warrant officer.

"Good, now move. We're late," he ordered, turning back around and heading for the meeting room.

Scarlett walked close to Lady Jaye, and whispered softly, "Next time, don't open the can of worms."

"I think I'm going to do the can-can on his warrant officer egotistical head," Lady Jaye whispered back, spitting imaginary fireballs at the man in front of her.

"Can you?" Scarlett smirked, at the other woman.

"Oh, yes, I can," Lady Jaye answered, returning the smile.

Flint whirled around so quickly, that both women collided with him. He stared down at their guilty features. "What did I just say? Can't you people stop with the jokes!" he scolded both of them.

Alpine and Snake Eyes stood still, glancing from the warrant officer to the two women of the Joe team, this was not going to be a pretty sight.

"Well, hope you like this joke then. Both of you have nothing but cleaning cans for three weeks," Flint stated, indicating to the punishment they both would receive. "Now, move."

The women nodded their heads silently, and followed the warrant officer down the hall, with an silently smiling ninja and mountain climber behind them.

Entering the room, they noticed that there were several other members of the elite force, and a very short, old, thin, gray haired man, who wore a kimono.

Hawk looked up from the head of the table, nodding to the Unit, and watched them take their seats.

The second in command paced in front of the room, his features hard, serious and filled with unpleasantness. Duke, stopped in his tracks, acknowledged the others, and stood inches from the first in command. His jaw was set, his lips in a tight thin line and his eyes, colder than any icicle ever created.

Two other G. I. Joe members occupied the room, and the others shared a curious glance on why Quick Kick and Jinx were taking part of this highly classified meeting.

"I see you were able to retrieve it." Hawk indicated towards the trunk. "Put it on the table," he ordered the two Greenshirts.

The two lower ranking soldiers placed the trunk in the middle of the meeting table, and high tailed it out of the room, as if the trunk was indeed Pandora's box and it would unleash all the devastation in the world.

"Now," Hawk rested his elbows on the table, his brown eyes glued to the trunk in the middle of the table and his face filled with leadership. "Whatever is said, heard and seen, remains in this room only."

Everyone nodded towards the leader of the G. I. Joe unit.

Duke walked towards the old gentleman in the room, who sat next to General Hawk. "This is Ying Ty," he said, indicating to the old Asian man sitting in front of him. "Cobra became very interested in one of Ying's ancestors, and the story behind the trunk."

"Yes, for many centuries my family knew the legend of the trunk, but we never knew the location, until now," the old man explained to the team members.

"Is this the right trunk, Mr. Ying?" Duke asked the older man.

Ying Ty nodded. "Yes, Duke-son. This is the trunk my ancestor Ying Li hid from the world centuries ago, in an old temple, high in the mountains, far from man."

Hawk turned towards his third in command. "Did you find the temple?"

"Yes. But we were too late. Cobra had already been there, and had already destroyed everything," the warrant officer answered.

The Asian man's eyes filled with great sorrow and bowed his head down for a silent prayer for the temple monks, that had lost their lives, guarding his ancestor's secret.

"How did the blazes did you uncover the trunk?" Duke asked bewildered.

"Scarlett," Flint answered.

All eyes turned to the redhead, whose face had changed into a bright pink color.

Hawk raised an eyebrow. "How?"

"She fell down a well," Flint answered for his embarrassed comrade.

Duke tilted his head towards the redhead in pure confusion, staying silent.

"The trunk was hidden down the well, in a underground tunnel," Flint finished explaining.

"Scarlett, did you find anything else down there?" Hawk asked the intelligence officer.

"Yeah, like maybe a frog," Duke said, under his breath sarcastically.

Scarlett sent an icy glare at the first sergeant before answering her commanding officer, "No, sir. The trunk was by itself, I couldn't find anything else down the tunnel."

"I see. Good work, all of you. But we're not out of the woods, yet. Cobra is still after the one thing that is inside this trunk," Hawk informed the group.

"And what is that?" asked Scarlett.

"Destiny," Ying Ty answered in a soft voice.

"I knew this was something like Pandora's box!" Alpine stated, nodding his head towards the green trunk.

"Yeah, only this is much more dangerous than what was inside Pandora's box," Quick Kick pointed out, making the entire room turn towards him.

"Can you explain on that?" Flint asked, now more nervous on what they had brought with them.

Ying Ty stood up. "Better, I will show you, Flint-son."

The old man raised his hand, shakily, and inserted it under his black Asian hat, and took out a silver key. His hand slowly guided itself to the trunk's key hole, inserting the key and unlocking the trunk. The lock clicked and the lid slowly opened on its own accord, making a few eyes wide, watching the phenomenon.

"Are you kidding me!" Alpine's voice finally broke the silence that had enveloped in the room.

"What on Earth?" Flint asked, perplexed.

"It's another trunk," Lady Jaye pointed out to the second trunk.

The smaller trunk had a deep blue exterior and once again another lock! All eyes turned to Ying Ty, amazed, and watching him once again, raise his hand, and taking out a second key, smaller than from the first version. And once again, the old man unlocked the trunk, and once again the Joe members watched the second trunk, open its lid by itself, revealing what it held.

"No way!" Quick Kick cried out in surprise.

"I'm having déjà vu." Flint shook his head, eyeing the third trunk.

All eyes now went to the third trunk, which had a deep purple color, and once again the old man took out from his hat a third key, smaller than the first two and once again, he unlocked the third trunk. The Joes all looked intensely at the opening lid of the third trunk.

Lady Jaye covered her face with her hands. "Please tell me that is not another trunk!"

"Fine, I won't tell you that's another trunk," Alpine replied.

"Another one!" Flint looked at the fourth trunk, shaking his head continuously.

Scarlett remained quiet, watching once again the old man take out a fourth key, and once again watched him open the fourth trunk, which was silver, and decorated with a red dragon. The fourth trunk opened and the room once again shook their heads.

"A fifth trunk!" Alpine almost shouted.

"Now, this is getting nerve racking!" Flint stated, looking at the old man, watching him now put both of his hands on the table and look around the room.

"Mr. Ying Ty, are you going to unlock this trunk too?" Quick Kick asked, now looking at a gold trunk, the smallest of the others, all golden and with a silver dragon holding a red stone in its mouth designed in the front.

"I do not have the last key, Quick Kick-son." Ying Ty answered.

"Then who has the last key?" Hawk asked, wanting to take action. If Cobra found the key to open the secret of the trunk, then heaven knew what would be unleashed to the world.

"We have to find that key," Duke proclaimed, pounding his right fist in his left palm.

"The question is, how do we find it?" Lady Jaye pointed out.

"Do we even know where it is?" Flint asked, looking towards the old man, hoping for an answer.

Ying Ty slowly nodded. "I know where the key is."

Everyone stared at the old man, waiting for him to inform them of the location of the fifth key, so that they could retrieve it before Cobra.

"Where?" Hawk asked.

"The key is in this room," came the answer.

They all stared at each other in silence, confused. Didn't he had just inform them that he did not have the key? Then how could it be in this room?

"Then, who has the key?" Duke asked, to Ying Ty.

"I do," came a voice in the back end of the table, and all heads turned towards Jinx, who had been silent for the entire meeting. The female ninja pulled out her sword and laid it on the table. Even Snake Eyes looked surprised at his student.

Jinx took then the handle in her hand, and with a twist, it came apart. A small key fell to the table with a click.

Everyone watched mystified as the ninja stood up from her chair, and walked towards the trunk. Her hand quivered, holding the silver key, and inserting it in the last keyhole, unlocking the last trunk. The small golden trunk's lid slowly opened, and unleashed a small red light, glowing from inside the trunk.

"Is that it?" Alpine asked, his eyes wide, staring down inside the trunk.

"We have to guard _that_?" Scarlett asked unimpressed.

"_That_ Scarlett in the wrong hands, can destroy our entire world," Duke answered her with an icy tone.

Scarlett sent him a scowling look towards his cold features.

"You have to be kidding me!" Flint mumbled, stunned at the golden trunk's secret.

"What is that thing?" Snake Eyes signed, glancing at the object in the trunk.

"It's a necklace," Scarlett answered him. "We risk our necks for a necklace."

Ying Ty bowed his head, feeling the skepticism around the room. His eyes gazed upon the thin chained golden necklace which held a tiny red stone. It brightly glowed in the small space of the trunk, which had not seen light for centuries.

"Joes. We need to guard this necklace. We cannot fail to have it fall into Cobra's hands," Hawk stated, his own eyes glued on the red stone.

"Each of you is going to guard the stone, while two others will guard the room's entrance," Duke explained, pacing back and forth. He stopped at looked directly at the redhead. "And seeming that you Scarlett have taken a fancy to the stone, you'll be the first to guard it."

Scarlett stared back at him, her features turning bright red, but remained quiet. He had given her an order and whether she liked it or not, she had to obey it.

Duke's features only showed professionalism, while he began to point out each of the Joe's assignments.

"Why is he being such a cold stone?" Jaye whispered to the redhead, her eyes watching the first sergeant carefully, hoping they wouldn't be spotted talking.

"I don't know, he's been acting different for a while now," Scarlett whispered back, her dark blue eyes glancing at the red stone.

"If you mean different that he's gotten frostbite down you know where, then I will agree with you," Jaye answered with a smirk.

Scarlett snickered softly, before swallowing the giggle down her throat.

"Do you care to join the rest of the class?" Duke snarled at the two women.

They stayed quiet, watching him glare at both of them, his features in a deep frown, not pleased by their negligence.

"I want to see both of you, in my office at 0800 hours tomorrow morning," Duke said, in an unpleasant tone.

All eyes traveled to the women, who seemed not pleased by his tone of voice.

"Looks like both of you are going to be cleaning every can on the base," Alpine whispered with a snicker.

"What's his problem?" Lady Jaye asked. "You both used to get along so well."

Scarlett sighed. "I know. At one point, I thought we were friends, maybe more, but--"

"Scarlett and Lady Jaye!" Duke shouted, the sound thundering in the room, making both women's heads snap towards his voice. "Can you two stop being in high school for one second?"

Silence enveloped the room, the first sergeant glaring at the two counterintelligence and covert operative agents. He began to pace once again, back into his leadership personality.

Scarlett and Lady Jaye sent each other a knowing look before turning back to attention at the trunk in front of them.

"Scarlett, _can_ I see you after the meeting is adjourned?" Duke's unpleasant voice hissed in the redhead's ear, sending a shiver down her spine.

Jaye gulped, spotting Flint giving her the same look, which covered the unhappy field commander's features.

Scarlett nodded, remaining in the same position, facing the table, not even turning towards his voice, or his face.

"I think this meeting is adjourned," Hawk stated, standing up. "The first group to take watch are Scarlett, Quick Kick and Alpine." He then turned to Ying Ty. "Rest assured, we will make sure Cobra doesn't get their claws on the stone."

Ying Ty nodded. "Thank you, General Hawk, and for all our sakes, I hope they don't."

"Does this thing have a name?" Alpine asked, looking towards the glowing red gem.

"It is called the Destiny stone," Ying Ty explained. "It is said that the stone belonged to the heart of an ancient dragon, which roamed the China sky a thousand years ago. A man named Te Nah Xing vowed to destroy the dragon and destroy the heart. He battled the dragon for ten years, and in the end defeated the great animal. Legend says that the dragon swallowed him with its last breath, while another says that Nah Xing opened the dragon's chest, took the heart in his hand and turned to dust."

Everyone once again glanced at the stone, which continued to glow.

"Oh, great. So basically, we're guarding Barney's heart!" Alpine said, shaking his head.

"Who's Barney?" Ying Ty asked, perplexed.

Hawk chuckled, leading the older gentleman out of the room.

Jaye sent a sympathetic look towards her teammate, before feeling Flint's arm around her shoulder, and whispering in her ear about seeing cantaloupes for the night.

Duke continued to pace, his features dead serious, waiting for everyone to leave the room, leaving him alone with the counterintelligence agent.

Alpine closed the door behind him, leaving them alone with one red stone for company, and being the only witness.

"What the bloody blue blazes is wrong with you?" Duke asked, his features angry.

Scarlett stared at him, remaining quiet. She did not want to face another unpleasant conversation with the first sergeant.

"Well? I'm waiting, sergeant?" Duke growled, his ice cold eyes staring into her dark blue ones.

"Nothing is wrong with me," Scarlett answered, her voice steady, and calm.

The first sergeant threw his hands over his head. "Nothing? Disrupting a meeting twice is nothing? You never acted in this manner in the past!"

"Me? You're the one--" Scarlett went to say but swallowed her thoughts.

"The one _what_?" Duke asked, with narrowed eyes.

Scarlett turned, walking away from him, not wanting to pursue this further, her temper would get the best of her If she did.

"You changed." His voice flew to her ear, making her pivot instantly.

"No, I'm not the one who--"

Duke's features changed bright red. "So what are you saying, Red? That I'm the one who changed? That I'm the one who is the problem?"

Scarlett didn't answer him, remaining quiet.

"Ever since you returned from Cobra La, there is something different about you," Duke stated, glancing down at the floor, away from her face.

"No, Duke. I'm not the one who changed," Scarlett retorted. "Ever since you woke from your coma, you seem different."

He glanced up towards her. "I'm still the same. You were the one who never even showed your face at the infirmary."

It was her turn to glance down at the floor. "I thought--"

"You thought what?" Duke interrupted. "That we were friends? Apparently not." He crossed his arms in front of his chest, watching her closely.

Scarlett opened her mouth to reply, when a loud explosion sent both of them to the ground.

"Cobra attack!" came the shout from outside the hallway.

Duke jumped to his feet. "Guard the stone. That's a direct order!" He darted out of the room, charging out in the hallway, barking orders.

Scarlett quickly rose to her feet, running to the open trunks on the table, grabbing the necklace in her hand, and rushing out of the room, while more explosions rocked under her feet. She headed down the hallway, towards the doors leading out of the building, trying to make it towards the shelter bunker.

The roars of the planes vibrated in her ears, followed by the massive explosions around. Her feet flew, edging closer to safety. Her heart rate quickened, filled with adrenaline. Her eyes skimmed left and right, dodging the Cobra troops coming from all sides. She held on to the necklace in her hand tightly, not letting go. Cobra would never get their hands on the necklace, even if it meant her death.

"She's got the stone!" Major Bludd's voice whipped the air.

Scarlett ran faster, trying to get to her destination. Only a few more feet, and she would be safe. Thinking quickly, she pulled the necklace over her head, feeling the weight of the stone on her chest. Its light becoming brighter with each breath she took.

"Going somewhere, darling?" Baroness asked, her voice filled with triumph.

A shot echoed in the air, sending the counterintelligence agent jerking forwards, and falling to the ground. Her head hit the pavement, sending a sharp pain throughout her body. Tears of pain escaped, trailing down her cheeks. She felt a burning sensation on her chest, right under the stone, before her world transformed to only darkness.


	2. Chapter 2

The roaring of the planes above her head started to stir her awake from the dark depths of her mind. A groan escaped her mouth, while her body fought to wake. Wake! Her mind demanded like a commanding officer. The vibrating earth quaked from underneath her motionless body and she fought to gain consciousness.

From somewhere close by, a loud explosion came to her ears, shaking once again the ground from right beneath her, it too trying to wake her from the darkness. Her blue eyes slowly opened with another moan escaping from her vocal chords. Her hand reached for her head, touching it. She slowly shook it, becoming fully conscious.

"_Guard the stone! That's a direct order!"_ Duke's strong authoritative words resurfaced in her head, vibrating it from their strength.

The stone! Her hand jumped down from her aching head to the necklace around her neck, her fingers slowly trailing downwards towards her chest, and she released a long breath of relief, finding the stone still there, in one piece. Another deafening sound came from near her position, causing her to shut her eyes tight from the avalanche of dust that fell from all around her.

Major Bludd! Baroness! her mind reminded her, demanding now to bring her back on her feet and in fighting stance. She opened her eyes, blinking back the tears from the dust that floated everywhere. A cough this time escaped and she knew she had to move. It was now or never. They hadn't found her, not yet, anyway. They were after the stone and she knew it. She had to race to safety. Her own life and the life of others depended on keeping the stone safe.

Scarlett rose slowly, trying to steady herself upright, her legs still shaky from the blast. But was it a blast? A good shot from the Baroness' weapon? She glanced down, trying to find any indication of blood on her uniform, or any wounds, but found none. Her uniform was unscathed, just dusty and dirty. Another roar of planes came above her head, and she glanced upwards, spotting them, nearing her position. Had they spotted her?

The yellow planes crossed over with no indication of shooting at her whatsoever. She blinked, twice, and finally from the dust's cloudy disappearance, she realized why the planes had not attacked her. She glanced all around her, discovering that she had been shielded by a small batch of shrubbery, near the obstacle course. Taking a step forward to leave her protective shelter, knowing that at any given time another row of planes could easily spot her, and this time they would not miss, she lost her footing, and leaned against the only tree that stood to her right. She noted that the bunker that she had been heading towards before her attack was right in front of her, only a few feet away. One swift move and she would be safe, and so would be the stone.

The sound of metal clashing to metal came from her left, and Scarlett's eyes widened, spotting a group of B. A. T. S. heading her way. Quickly, she ducked down, behind the shrubs. Parting some branches carefully so as not to give her position away, her blue eyes became fully wide with surprise, watching the tin soldiers walk close to her position. She could feel perspiration forming on her on the back of her neck, and her heart almost stopped when one of B. A. Ts halted right in front of her hiding spot.

Her hand flew to the stone, covering it, making sure it still rested around her neck. Her eyes observed the metal robotic soldier, studying it carefully. It was a B.A.T.? Wasn't it? It had to be! Only it was different, enhanced, upgraded. The B.A.T. that stood only inches from her position could be easily described as one of the enemy's battle android troopers, only it wasn't black. This mechanical humanoid had been transformed from a dull, cheaply made collection of metal parts, to an extraordinary piece of higher weaponry. Its outer shell glimmered with yellow, almost the color of pure gold, and its eyes glowed with bright red colored beams of light. The weapon, which it held in both hands, stood out from any weapon Scarlett had ever seen made by Cobra. It was long, silver, and thin. Another B.A.T. used the weapon to shoot a white laser beam of light that hit straight onto an upcoming, G. I. Joe jeep, leaving only dust behind. Cobra had finally developed a new weapon. These new Super B.A.T.s could be G. I. Joe's downfall.

Her heart went out to those who perished trying to protect the base from the Cobra invasion. That was what it was, hearing another row of planes above her head, she glanced upwards, spotting the yellow aircraft, closing in, and for the first time, noticed the COBRA insignia on each side of the plane.

From no where, two G. I. Joe Sky Strikers came into view, right behind the golden colored Cobra airplanes, shooting at them with full force. She glanced back towards the B.A.T., and her heart skipped a beat, finding it gone. She carefully glanced around her surroundings, getting ready to strike if the metal creature came at her by any means. It didn't. The Super B.A.T. had gone, just like its friends. Now was her chance. She had a break, and she was going to take it.

Darting out of her hiding spot, she dashed towards the bunker, and once again she stopped short, catching a glimpse of three Cobra Vipers right near the bunker, coming around its corner. She would be spotted, too late to duck back into the bushes.

"There's a Joe!" one of the Vipers called out, pointing towards where she stood, only she was no longer standing, but running, at top speed.

"Get her!" the Viper commanded to his troops.

Scarlett didn't dare look behind her, knowing that the Vipers were close, on her tail. She raced towards the main building, taking in everything that was happening all around her, the true chaos that had engulfed the entire base. Smoke rose from all ends, and numerous Greenshirts lay motionless on the ground. Her heart pounded in her chest, making the stone slightly glow from her pulse. A bullet passed her right shoulder, missing it by several inches.

"Stop Joe!" the cry came from behind her, filled with loathing and evilness.

She dived next to a Greenshirt, taking hold of his weapon, and used his dead body as a shield, while she took aim and fired at her pursuers. She did not miss, watching all three of the enemies fall to the ground, lifeless. She didn't waste another minute. She had to get somewhere safe. She was the target and they all knew it.

Glancing about her, she couldn't find any of the Joes, not even Duke. She hoped they were all safe, even him. Another row of explosions came from all around her, sending her to the ground. But this time, they didn't come from enemy fighters. She spotted two Dragon Fly choppers heading her way, passing over her position, but she was not sure if they had spotted her from the countless dead Greenshirts that surrounding her. They headed towards several Cobra yellow planes. The two Joe craft did not have a chance as Cobra fired and did not miss. They were losing this battle, that was for sure. She vowed not to go down without fighting.

A Sky Striker came to view, flying over her, and headed towards the enemy. More Sky Strikers followed the first. Duke! It had to be Duke leading the squadron. Maybe hope was still alive for this battle.

She jumped to her feet, starting to head once more towards the main building with its signature cannon, but the sound of exploding metal made her stop and stare in disbelief.

What were the Sky Strikers doing? She watched the planes fly around the enemies in a choppy pattern. Whoever those pilots were inside the Joe craft were nothing but amateurs. Who was ordering the pilots to attack in this manner? Her heart jumped to her throat, watching one of the Joe aircraft fly dangerously close to the enemy's, which the golden uniformed pilot almost shot it out of the sky.

"Look out!" her trapped voice finally cried out, warning the Joe pilot, but knowing that he could never hear her, and would never hear the commanding officer's lecture on flying. She spotted the missile from the Cobra plane flying towards the Striker, and creating a large red ball of fire from its impact.

Scarlett stood motionless watching the metal fall to the ground. Her eyes stared at the pieces of the remains of the Sky Striker, which its metal parts continuously burned with orange flames, creating an image of a funeral's lit candle for the fallen soldier.

What was going on here? Her mind tugged at the question. She did not have time to answer it, for she only knew that she had to help. Inserting the stone underneath her Joe uniform, keeping it safe and close to her, she raced towards the building. Duke's orders or no Duke's orders, they needed her!

Two Super B.A.T.s came out of no where, right in front of her path, and she had no other choice but to throw two throwing stars right in their red glowing eyes. The robots quickly found themselves confused and disoriented, unable to spot the enemy. Scarlett wasted no time, but aimed at their chests and fired with the Greenshirt's gun. She took them out completely before entering the building, but not before spotting several dozen Greenshirts fighting more of the golden colored mechanical soldiers.

Taking the stairs to the second floor two by two, and passing by more Greenshirts who looked more confused and lost than knowing how to fight, she reached the command center. Her first priority was to give the ancient gem to one of the others, whoever was close by, make sure it was completely safe, and then go into battle herself. She would face Duke afterwards. He would understand, right? It didn't look good and she knew he knew it. She spotted only two Joes in the control room, their communications officer and medical officer.

Another explosion occurring close to the building, rocking it from its power, sent everyone off balance. Scarlett balanced herself against the doorframe to the room.

"Shoot!" Breaker cursed, while trying to keep the monitors on, hitting and pushing buttons, his hands never stopping.

Static came from the communications radio, and a voice came on, "Breaker, we being mangled out here!"

"Cover Girl, what's your status?" Breaker asked, his eyes only concentrating on the small screen, getting a glimpse of Cover Girl who looked like she needed medical support from the size of the laceration on the side of her forehead.

"Cobra Rattlers, coming in fast!" Cover Girl answered, trying to take action.

"Watch it, C.G!" Shipwreck's voice came on. "You almost crashed into the cannon!"

Scarlett listened carefully. Cover Girl sounded like she was in the air, and not on the ground, driving. Who had ordered Cover Girl to fly a Striker! Duke must have lost one of his marbles! The woman could fly, but not the way she could drive! She was one of the few that could literally run a Wolverine like a child's toy and ram it through a Cobra base, coming out unscathed!

"Breaker! We got B.A.T.s up to our necks!" Law's voice came on.

"Status, Law," Breaker immediately asked.

"By the Motor Pool," came the answer. "Hurry. Chuckles and Big Lob are both down. Tunnel---" only static sounded from the radio and the remainder of the message never came through.

"Cover Girl, take your squadron, and head them off!" Breaker ordered.

Scarlett's eyes widened. "What the devil is going on?" she said to herself, not knowing it had escaped, making both Joes in the room whirl their chairs around, facing her with a surprised expression.

"SCARLETT!" they both shouted with their eyes wide, and mouths dropped.

"What are you doing here?" Lifeline asked, glancing from the redheaded Joe to the communications officer and back to the counterintelligence agent.

"Aren't you supposed to be—" Breaker started asking, but was cut off by the redhead.

"Never mind that right now." Scarlett walked towards them. Her hand rested on the top of an empty chair. "Whatever Cobra has done to their equipment, it's costing us," she said, then added, "dearly."

She glanced at the monitors, catching on one of the screens, a small glimpse through the rising gray smoke that had dominated the base, Tunnel Rat and Law with his dog, Order, trying to fight off a dozen gold B.A.T.s. She reached and pushed the communications button, "Law, aim for their eyes," she said into the radio, her heart beating quickly, hoping it would work, just like before.

They continued to watch the monitor, all holding their breath, seeing Law hearing her message, taking aim and firing. The B.A.T.S. started walking around with no controlled direction whatsoever, confused and disorderly.

"Take them out!" Scarlett ordered to the two Joes, her eyes never leaving the screen, watching Law wasting no time waiting for another command. He started shooting at the machines, destroying them one at a time. She glanced from screen to screen, spotting Greenshirts starting to use the same method, and making the B.A.T infestation decrease.

From next to her, she heard Breaker exhale a sigh of relief and saw Lifeline close his eyes. She needed to get up in the air. She leaned forward and pushed the red button. He was going to be livid, but she would be ready for his lecture.

"Duke, this is Scarlett, come in."

Breaker and Lifeline looked towards the redhead in bewilderment then exchanged worried looks to one another.

The radio remained in silence, with no answer returning for the counterintelligence agent.

"Duke, come in, please," Scarlett once again tried, hoping he wouldn't be disappointed with her for not following orders. But then again, from her point of view, she wasn't. She was protecting the red stone, at all costs.

No answer came from the other end again, and her eyes went downcast, hoping his had not met his end during battle. Her heart pulsed madly in her chest, waiting for his response, his voice, even if he was extremely angry. She wanted to make sure he was all right.

"Scarlett?" Breaker's gentle tone broke her thoughts, and she turned to him.

Static finally came on from the communication system, and she felt her heart jump to her throat, waiting, anticipating for his voice.

"Scarlett?"

Her shoulders slightly slugged downwards. It wasn't his voice. The voice that came over the link, wasn't Duke's.

"Yes, Cover Girl?" Scarlett answered, feeling her heart grow heavy from receiving an answer but not from who she expected it from. Where was he? Her heart hammered in her chest, beating so loudly, it came to her ears, beating like a drum, and her hand flew to the stone, which she could feel from under her uniform.

"I--" Cover Girl went to answer her when another's voice erupted through the radio.

"Rattlers! Twelve o'clock! Coming in fast!" Shipwreck bellowed from his Sky Striker.

Scarlett's heart now raced. She had to help them, but how? She glanced at the monitors. The B.A.T.S were being taken care of, but what about the golden colored Cobra Rattlers?

"Red? Got any ideas?" Cover Girl's voice sounded nervous from the other end.

Scarlett glanced over to Breaker and Lifeline who nodded with approval, and then concentrated on the situation. They were outnumbered and Cobra already knew. Her thoughts whirled in her head. What would she do? But more importantly what would Duke do? She closed her eyes for a moment and pictured his face and his voice, "The team sticks together."

"What?" Breaker and Lifeline asked, standing up and staring at her, waiting for an answer.

Scarlett opened her eyes. "Us, the Joes, we got to stick together, no matter what. We need to keep punching," she said to both the Joes in the command center and the Joes in the battlefield. "Joes, I want everyone to fall back, and wait on my signal. Cover Girl, take your squadron, head East, Shipwreck, head West."

"I'm not going to be the Wicked Witch of the West you know," Shipwreck joked, giving a great imitation of the Wicked Witch.

"Shipwreck!" Cover Girl scolded over the radio, and they could all picture her with a disapproving look on her face. "Let's go!"

"I'm going, I'm going," Shipwreck mumbled, then ordered his squadron to follow him. "Let's go, Toto!"

"SHIPWRECK!"

"Hey, if I'm really going, at least let me go with a big joke!" Shipwreck stated, but his tone showed no amusement.

The Cobra rattlers were closing in, and the three Joes in the command center intensely watched the planes on the monitors. They counted at least three groups of enemy fighters, around thirty planes in total. Scarlett found herself wondering if they would survive this, and hoped that her plan worked. She glanced at the other two Joes and also wondered how many casualties they had from this battle. Her heart did not want to know that particular answer. It pounded madly in her chest, anticipating the attack, which held their fate. If Cobra won this battle, it could mean the end of G. I. Joe.

"Scarlett, they're almost upon us!" Breaker stated, pointing to the monitors, spotting the planes coming in, only a several hundred feet away.

"Wait," Scarlett ordered the team, waiting herself, her eyes now glued to the golden planes and the Cobra image drawn on the front of the craft's nose.

"Wait," she requested again, her pulse quickening with each passing second, watching the enemy aircraft head straight right at them, and she instantly knew they were targeting the building itself. That was their plan, destroying Joe Headquarters once and for all. Her features turned serious. "Not today, Cobra," she murmured before she signaled, "NOW!"

The whole scene became a blur while she watched the Cobra Rattlers just passing through the perimeter. She could picture their little snake-like eyes changing into pure victory, and then turning to horror when the G. I. Joe Sky Strikers came from both ends, surrounding the Cobra Rattlers, firing them at them from all sides. The sky transformed into a sea of aircraft whirling, twirling, and dancing, before some of them disappeared from view, permanently. Sky Strikers as well as Cobra Rattlers lost their battle and found themselves crashing to the ground, while their pilots ejected, and continued to fight for their own lives.

"Ground troops, fire!" Scarlett found herself ordering into the radio and in seconds whatever had remained of the Joe ground units, started firing at the enemy.

Slowly, the Cobras began to retreat, starting with the cowards who would rather live another day and earn another Cobra dollar. Time stood still for Scarlett, Breaker and Lifeline, watching the battle from the control room. They had to win. They had to!

Then the words that she wanted to hear came over the radio, "The Cobra's are retreating, YO JOE!" The voice of Shipwreck imitating the wicked witch sounded like beautiful music to everyone's ears.

"YO JOE!" came the thunderous reply of those who survived the battle.

Scarlett exhaled, letting the air that had filled her lungs be released, realizing from all the anxiety, she had been holding her breath. She glanced down at the control panel, her eyes turning soft and a tear escaped from the aftermath of the battle. The tear trailed down her cheek, and dropped on the red switch that had connected her to battle. She glanced up back at the monitors, watching the enemy run, their tails under their afterburners, and their own Joe planes, starting to land, while Greenshirts mechanics rushed to start repairs.

"We need to start cleaning up," she murmured, giving a side-glance towards the other two members in the room.

Breaker nodded, but Lifeline was all ready on it, from the way he jumped out of his chair and raced out, ready to help with the casualties. It didn't occur to her until that particular moment to wonder why the medic had been in the command center all this time, and not in the battle, rescuing, and helping the injured. She knew that their numbers had dwindled and judging from the man's features, he had seen death one time too many. It didn't faze him any longer.

"Scarlett?" Breaker once again broke into her thoughts.

She turned and looked into his brown eyes, which showed relief and confusion

"What are you doing here?" Breaker bravely asked, standing up and taking a step towards her.

Scarlett was taken aback from his question for a split second. "I know I'll be getting court martialled for disobeying orders, but I hope he will understand." Her heart once again pounded, wanting nothing more to see his face, entering the control room and barking at her until his voice left him from his yells. An image of Ying Ty and Hawk also came in her head, and her eyes widened. They had to be safe. The stone was safe, for the moment. Without Ying Ty, the Joes had no idea what would become of the gem.

The control room's doors slid opened, and Roadblock walked inside with a Rottweiler. The heavy gunner had a large grin on his face that reached his eyes. The dog looked smaller than Junkyard; thinner and more tame, not even pulling on the leash, which he held in his hand.

Scarlett arched one of her eyebrows and sent Roadblock a curious glance. She would ask about the dog later. Right at that moment, the stone was more important. She turned towards the communications officer, who still stared at her with a slightly puzzled expression on his features. "Breaker, do you know—"

The Joe who loved to play chef while not on active duty cut off her words, "I don't have to see, to know whose voice that may be!" Roadblock greeted her with a smile. "Scarlett!"

Scarlett started to reply but the strong embrace of the heavy gunner's swallowed her words. "Nice to see you too, Roadblock," she managed to say to finally say, still in the man's strong embrace, knowing that he may not have known of her return. If Duke had walked in at that particular moment, who knew what would happen.

Finally, after what seemed a lifetime, Roadblock released her from his hug, but his smile still remained on his face. His eyes were glass-like and had a yellow tone to them. Scarlett wondered if he was wearing contacts. Her own eyes blinked, watching his, which remained still and frozen, like a solid crystal glass. Her hand slowly reached to cover her mouth, and glanced at Breaker, then back at the heavy gunner. "Roadblock," she whispered his code name.

"Scarlett?" Roadblock's smile faded from the sound of her voice, which betrayed her knowledge. "Hey, don't you fret, just don't get all upset!"

Her hand reached towards his soft skin on his face. "How? When?" her questions flew out of her mouth, shocked and dazed. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to find Breaker.

"Cobra La," Breaker answered her question.

Scarlett glanced from one Joe to another. Her head whirled while her blue eyes hit dead center of her teammate's yellow ones, finding them lifeless.

"I maybe blind, but I still have my mind," the heavy gunner told her, his smile returning to his face.

"Roadblock I didn't mean—" she started to apologize.

"It's all right, Red," Roadblock assured her, patting the Rottweiler next to him. "Sock and I, are the best team yet!"

Scarlett wrapped her arms around her long time friend and held him close. "I bet!" she glanced up at his features, knowing how much he loved to rhyme. She remembered how Flint's rescue unit had found Roadblock in the snow; mostly blind from one of the Cobra La spores. But the last time she had seen Roadblock, he still had his eyesight. All 20/20 of it! Her hand flew to her head again; shaking off the slight nausea that came upon her.

"Red, you okay?" Roadblock asked, now becoming concerned for a teammate and a friend.

Scarlett went to reply, when once again the control room's door slid open. Her heart skipped a beat, hoping it was Duke entering or even Hawk, but it wasn't. Cover Girl and Shipwreck strode in; both with the same dusty look, mimicking her own uniform.

"Scarlett!" Cover Girl wrapped her arms around her friend, giving her a hug.

Scarlett's mind whirled. What was happening? She glanced around the faces, which all stared at her the same as she stared at them. A jigsaw puzzle, that was how it felt. They were all in the same puzzle but not connecting from one piece to another. "Wh-where's Duke?"

Cover Girl dropped her arms faster then she had found herself hugging one of those golden battle android troopers. "Duke?"

"Yes, Duke," Scarlett insisted, crossing her arms in the front. "You know, six foot two, eyes of blue? Poster boy to this unit?"

Silence enveloped the control room, and all sent her a worried expression. Her heart pounded profusely in her chest. Now she was certain something had happened while she was unconscious, but what? What were they keeping from her? Had something happened that they wanted her not to know? What?

"Where's Duke?" she asked once again, this time with a voice filled with authority. No answer came again, and her blood began to boil slightly. "Fine, where's Hawk?"

Cover Girl, Breaker and Shipwreck glanced at each other, then to her.

"H-he's not here," Shipwreck finally spoke for the three.

Scarlett turned for a second around, and then pivoted back to them. "I don't know what is going on, but I want some answers and the first one is, where is Duke?"

This time, they did not meet her gaze, except for one. Roadblock. "I'll take you to Duke," he offered, raising his arm to escort her to the field commander.

Scarlett gently took it, remaining quiet, while he gave a command to the dog, "Forward." and led her out of the control room, down the corridors and out into the dark night sky. She glanced around her, feeling the chills down her spine, but knowing that it was a warm summer's evening. She spotted several medics bending over the lifeless Greenshirts, and her own eyes closed for a moment, letting Roadblock lead her.

She didn't know where they were heading, figuring it was towards the main hangar where Duke was probably barking orders, as usual. But their path turned away from the main hangar, and past it, the barracks, and then the small bunker buildings at the far end of the base. Where was he taking her? She didn't ask, remaining in her silent state.

Roadblock patted her hand with his, and walked through a wall of wild thicket, and came to a halt. "We're here," he said in a low tone.

Scarlett glanced around her, trying to see through the darkness, finally seeing Roadblock's world through her eyes. "Duke?" she called out, turning her head left and right, trying to locate him. But again, no answer greeted her, nothing, only the sound of a cricket chirping in the summer night. "Roadblock, I-I think we took a wrong turn," she pointed out, hoping she didn't hurt the man's feelings.

Roadblock did not answer Scarlett, but gently took her hand with his and led it across the wild brush, reaching until it touched something solid.

Scarlett's eyes widened with fear, touching the marble with her fingers, starting to let them feel around, letting them find the indications of letters on the stone tablet. She let go of Roadblock's arm, and took a slow stride, her heart rushing to her throat which already held a lump, pressing each other, wanting both to escape. Her blue eyes turned soft, filling with sorrow, while her hand continued to search, finding that the stone was long and wide. _No!_ Her heart now slammed against her chest, realizing what it was. "Duke," her heart spoke his code name, tearfully, letting her eyes find his grave mark.

"His body maybe in Arlington, but his spirit is here," Roadblock's voice spoke the truth that she did not want to hear.

"Duke," she whispered his name once again, letting it fly out of her mouth, from her heart and into the night sky, letting it fly to him. She swallowed the larger lump that came to her throat, and squinted her eyes to read aloud the inscription on the memorial, "A Hero, A Friend, A Mentor, A Teammate. The one who looks out for us all the time, from Headquarters to the battlefields, and now from the stars from above."

Scarlett never felt so alone than that exact second when she knew that she would never see his blue eyes again. She closed hers for a moment, trying to keep her composure, her military mask was fully on, but it started to crack. She traced her fingers over the words she had just read, finding herself not believing. She had just talked to him a few hours ago! This couldn't have happened? _No! _Her mind shouted. _This is not real! I don't believe it_! And then her heart almost stopped beating when she found the date of his death on the stone. The same day that Cobra attacked Joe Headquarters and stole the BET. The same day that Duke had been hit with one of Serpentor's poisoned snakes. The same day that he went into a coma, right in her arms, and the same day that she had known with all her heart that she loved him. "Where am I?" she asked the unknown and no answer came, none.


	3. Chapter 3

Scarlett was motionless for a long moment, her dark blue eyes never leaving the grave mark, Duke's grave mark. How could this be? Her fingers lightly skimmed over the carved symbol of the American flag. Right underneath it were the letters that she wished with all her heart were not there, but they were. _First Sergeant Conrad Sean Hauser. _Duke's name, his real name. She wondered for a moment if she would ever speak his name to him again. Her heart felt heavy, and the lump in her throat demanded to be released, but once again she swallowed it, letting it retreat, for now. She slowly stood up where she had been kneeling for the past half-hour, alone. Roadblock had given her a moment with her private thoughts, but he was near. Even though the heavy gunner was not in eyesight, he had to be stationed very close, waiting to escort her back to the Joe Headquarters building.

She glanced around the wild overgrown thicket. Recondo would have loved it, and she assumed that the man probably fell asleep at times there. Her heart started to pound more quickly, thinking of her teammate, her teammates and the ones she cared the most. What happened to her friends? The question rolled around in her head like dead weight. She didn't dare to ask her question at that moment. No. Roadblock would get suspicious. Was she supposed to know about the current events that her friends had lived through? Time would tell each Joe's story. She knew that she couldn't just start asking questions. They would automatically think something was wrong, that she had lost her mind, and in truth, had she? For the moment the decision would keep her questions unanswered in her head.

Pushing apart two thick bushes that had created a barrier wall to the memorial, hiding it from all eyes, a wall of protection, she made her way through and looked around for the heavy gunner. "Roadblock?" her low tone echoed in the eerie silence.

"Right here, Red," Roadblock's voice came from nearby, and in several seconds, another thick overgrown brush swayed gently, with a dog emerging, followed by its master.

Scarlett walked over to her comrade, and placed a hand on his lower arm, to signal him that she was right there, ready to be escorted back. She took one last glance at the hidden memorial before she felt Roadblock's gentle tug, leading her away from it. Words could not describe her emotion at that particular moment. Words were haunting her at that same second, recalling what she had said to the first sergeant before their parting, not knowing that those last words that had come out of her mouth, and the last words that had shot out from his, could be her own final memory.

They remained in silence until they reached the main building, passing the medical teams that were fully under the control of Lifeline's orders, bandaging, wrapping, racing the injured to the Infirmary and taking care of the ones that had lost their lives to fight for one word— freedom.

Her eyes wandered around, getting a small glimpse of the pile of rubble that once used to be hangars, and wondered how many planes they had lost during the battle. To her relief, she noticed that the Motor Pool, though having two thin trails of smoke rising from its rooftop, had mostly survived. She tried to spot any of the other Joes: Hawk, Flint, Beach Head or even Snake Eyes, but the Joes that were on clean up duty were mostly Greenshirts. However, she did spot Law, Tunnel Rat and Mutt next to a large pile of golden tin can parts— the remainder of the Super B.A.T.s.

Socks, the heavy gunner's faithful companion and his eyesight, walked through the debris effortlessly, guiding them through the safer areas at a quick pace.

Reaching the main building, they headed inside, and returned to the command center where several Joes were running to and fro, getting readings, checking on alarm systems and changing codes. It was the normal routine for an aftermath of a deadly battle.

Scarlett noticed Breaker in the front of the room, moving his speedy fingers in a rapid pace over the control panel, checking and rechecking, pushing buttons, flipping switches, and once in a while cursing under his breath. Shipwreck and Cover Girl were stationed near the side of the control panel, talking in low tones and she wondered what they were discussing. From the expressions on their faces, the conversation appeared to be serious. She then spotted several other Joes: Bazooka slowly walked with a crutch, and she knew instantly from the gauze wrapped around his knee that he had been injured during the battle, and lastly, Wild Bill, who was stationed in front of one of the computers was writing endlessly.

To her surprise, none of the high command appeared in the command center. She spotted several Greenshirts rushing around, holding papers, cleaning up debris and helping the wounded, but no sign of Hawk, Flint, or even Beach Head. A shiver went down her spine as dread overpowered her body. Were they also gone? Just like Duke?

"You all right, Red?" Roadblock's voice came to her ear.

Scarlett turned her head towards his voice and found his face lined with creases of worry. "I'm fine," she answered him, patting his hand, assuring him. Right at that moment, she wanted to take some action and help with the situation. Her military expertise took over, and she found herself analyzing her surroundings. It looked normal, like any given G. I. Joe day, but through her eyes, she noticed one thing, they all had the same face on— they looked lost.

"Where's Hawk?" she asked with authority, and instantly everyone in the room slightly stiffened from it, stopped whatever they were doing, and stared at her with nervous eyes. She took a deep breath and released it. "I know Shipwreck informed me that he was not here, so where is he?"

They all just looked at her, then slowly looked at each other, but this time it was Cover Girl, who answered, "Scarlett, Hawk is still missing."

Missing! The word felt like poison. Missing? How? When? Again questions dominated her thoughts. She stood there stunned, her eyes wide, and mouth slightly opened.

"Cobra La?" she finally managed to ask, blinking, still disbelieving.

Wild Bill stood up from his chair and walked over, placing an arm around his friend. "Darling, you know this," he reminded her gently. "When those man eating vine plants attacked, Hawk's Snow Cat fell over the side of the ravine, but it never hit the river. He just vanished."

"We've been searching for him and the others for over two years now," Cover Girl said, walking over with crossing her arms in the front. "But we keep playing hide and sneak with those snakes."

Others! The word again struck her heart, piercing it from its true meaning. How many Joes had met their ends during the Cobra La battle, and how many could be still remaining in their enemy's hands?

Scarlett glanced at the Wolverine driver, finally taking a good look at her teammate. Cover Girl still wore her signature leather jacket and beige shirt with pants. Her eyes though had a darker tone within, and her hair stopped just right above her shoulder line, still reddish-brown in coloring. But it was the shimmering sparkle on the woman's left hand that caught the counterintelligence agent's eye. A simple golden ring, a wedding band, allowed her to see another part of her friend.

"All we need is to get in there, bust up those snakes and get them out!" Shipwreck pounded his fist on the table in the room.

"Shipwreck, think! If you can!" Cover Girl sent him a scowl. "We've done that, already." She glanced down to the floor, and added with a soft murmur, "and failed."

Scarlett glanced from the Wolverine driver to the sailor, back and forth. Could these two share more then a friendship she wondered, recalling the many times the sailor had flirted with the ex-model, hoping to get her attention. She wished she could see Shipwreck's left hand, but he as always wore his black gloves, preventing her from spotting anything gold.

Lifeline walked into the command center at that moment, and headed straight to Breaker, holding in his hands one of the golden heads of the B.A.T.s. "Got a patient for you, Breaker," he said, handing the head over to the computer analyst. "Let's see if we can get any information from our volunteer here."

"I'll do my best," Breaker informed the medical team member, already jumping up from his chair, and heading out of the room to start his examinations.

"Honey, you need to go and rest," Lifeline said, walking over towards them.

Scarlett's eyebrows rose straight up, watching the medic wrap his arm around the only other woman in the room, and pulled her against him. Spotting the golden ring on the man's fourth finger, it was the evidence that linked these two Joes together. Cover Girl and Lifeline shared more then being part of G. I. Joe, they were also part of each other, as husband and wife!

"Don't worry, I can handle it," Cover Girl assured him, kissing him lightly.

"Hey Wreck, is Red's face all red?" Roadblock chuckled, patting the redhead on the shoulder.

"Nah, I think it's more fuchsia pink, more like what you see in a meat locker," Shipwreck pointed out, ducking away from Cover Girl's punch.

"Flint?" Scarlett requested, trying to divert the attention elsewhere. She hoped that the third in command of the elite team had not faced another deadly end.

Again, they gave her the same soft expression and she closed her eyes.

"Who _is_ in charge?" she finally dared to ask, now becoming more determined to find out what had happened. Her head felt clotted, filled with many unanswered questions.

Cover Girl looked carefully at the redhead before answering, "Flint."

"Flint is first in command?" Scarlett asked, glancing from Cover Girl, to Lifeline, then to Shipwreck and lastly Roadblock.

They didn't answer her in words but only in nods, and she felt her blood start to slowly boil.

"Where's Flint?" she asked, her tone becoming slightly sharper, wanting to have a small chat with the warrant officer on his battlefield strategy.

"Umm…Flint's in—" Shipwreck started to respond but was cut off by Lifeline.

"You don't want to see Flint," the medic stated, starting to lead his wife out of the room, away from the counterintelligence agent's prying questions.

Scarlett looked at them once again. "Where is Flint?" she asked a second time, using her most authoritative voice.

"In his room," Shipwreck blurted out, then raced out of the control center faster then any of them had ever seen.

"In his room!" Scarlett repeated, stunned. All this time the warrant officer was on base, and had not shown himself in the battle or after it? Anger started to rise within her, wanting nothing more then to head over to Flint's quarters and have a word with him. Her thought turned into motion, finding herself starting to head out of the doors. Her stride became quicker, matching her heartbeat. Warrant Officer Faireborn had several answers to her questions.

"Scarlett!" Cover Girl's voice came to Scarlett's ears, making her stop and turn around to face a dear friend. True, she and Cover Girl had never seen eye to eye, but for the most part, they covered each other's backs during battles with Cobra and when the Joe men needed some 'extra' lessons. Cover Girl had become a valuable friend.

"Yes?" Scarlett asked gently, her blue eyes turning soft.

Cover Girl placed a supportive hand on her shoulder. "Nothing, I'm just happy you're here," she answered her with a smile before wrapping her arms around and holding her tight.

The gesture surprised the counterintelligence agent, but she returned the same gesture towards the Wolverine driver.

"Thanks," Scarlett replied, letting go of the embrace. She turned and headed down the corridor, passing the offices during her way and stopped for a second at one particular one. Her hands touched gently the brown door, feeling it's familiar touch. Her fingers trailed on the smoothness of the wood downward to the small rectangular golden nameplate, which wrote, Warrant Officer Faireborn, and then her fingers made their way to the knob, twisting it slowly, before finally letting herself inside the room, the room where she had been inside hundreds of times.

Flipping the switch, the lights brightened the pitch black room, letting it breathe for what it seemed a long time. Her eyes went straight to the desk, which held hundreds of untouched manila folders, showing that the resident of the room was behind on his responsibilities. She stood by the doorway for a moment, taking in the office itself, knowing that she had walked in there only a few days before, when Duke had given their mission for Ying Ty's trunk. Her hand slowly rose and she felt the stone underneath her uniform. This office belonged to Duke. It felt so different, so unnerving to see it fall to another's hand.

She switched off the lights, closed the door behind her, and continued down the corridor, leading herself out of the building. She then passed several Greenshirts who continued to clean up the never ending debris and walked into the first barrack building, straight to the second floor, passing the closed doors with names she did not know and others which looked scratched off, before coming to a halt at one in particular.

Knocking on the door, she waited for an answer from within, but none came. A small frown developed on her features. She knocked a second time, only louder. This time a faint muffled sound came from the other side, but the door remained shut, leaving her outside.

"Flint?" Scarlett called out. This time instead of waiting, she bravely reached for the knob and pushed the door, which opened easily, indicating it had been left unlocked. Taking a deep breath, she walked inside, and was plunged into darkness. The foul odor of overflowing garbage and rotten food came to her nostrils, causing her stomach to lurch from nausea. Taking a step forward, her yellow boot caught on something soft and she kicked it away, hoping it wasn't a small rodent that had inhabited the suite because of the sour smell.

"Flint?" she spoke louder, her hands now skimming the wall, trying to locate the light switch. She found it right next to the door itself, and with a flip of her finger, she allowed the light to wake the room. Her eyes blinked, getting used to the brightness, and when they did, her mouth dropped from the shock.

For most of her military life, she had known that Warrant Officer Faireborn, code named, Flint, was nothing less then an orderly sort of person, who never left a speck of dust on his floor, or even in his office. But this room gave a false presentation to the man she knew. This room was nothing more than the opposite — it held a large assortment of unwashed clothing articles everywhere from the floor, to the furniture and even hung on the lampshades. Containers with left over food overflowed the garbage pail, which for some odd reason was placed dead center in the living room. Empty bottles of various types of liquor lay around in various places.

Glancing downwards, she identified the article that had been caught on her foot, and she scrunched her nose at the boxer shorts. Kicking them out of the way, she walked further in the suite. "Flint, it's Scarlett."

Still no answer, but she knew he was in the suite, somewhere. She headed first to the bedroom, the most logical place as she noticed the kitchenette was completely empty and she shivered at the thought of even daring to step in there because of the condition of the living room. She knocked on the bedroom door, and received no answer. Daring to push open the door, she glanced inside, and instantly her hand felt the wall, hunting for the light switch. When the lights came on, this time her mouth did not drop from surprise. The bedroom was spotlessly clean, the bed made, and a large stuffed bear sat on the bed, waiting for someone to hug him. The fact that the entire room was dominated with dust and cobwebs, which created an eerie atmosphere, made it look as if it had not been lived in for years.

A long ghastly moan made her spine slightly shiver, making her slowly pivot around and face another closed door. Slowly she reached for the knob, and turned, entering the last room of the suite, the bathroom. The door jammed on something from behind it and her eyes widened with fear, thinking it could be the warrant officer himself, but peeking around the door's frame, she found the wall of towels that barricaded her entrance or her banishment from the small room. Her eyes skimmed around the floor and she caught no sign of a fallen friend. Pushing the door with all her strength, she slipped through, finally entering the room. "Flint?"

This time a long belch answered, and she glanced towards the bathtub, which had the shower curtain closed, shutting everything in and everything out, another barricade. Stepping with one long stride, she pulled the curtain to the side, finding the missing team member.

"Well, well, come to join the party?" Flint glanced up at her, his dull brown eyes staring at her sharp dark blue ones. He took a long drink from a beer bottle, eyeing her with intrigue.

Scarlett looked at the man, whose resembled nothing more then one of those cheap imitations of a toy soldier, pale, pasty, and plastic. He lay in the bathtub, drinking the beer bottle, while several dozen lay by his feet— empty. Now she understood Lifeline's warning. Flint was in no position to lead a battle, he was in no position to lead a horse to water either! Her eyes went to his face again, which no longer was its usual clean-shaven, but rather rough-like, with a full beard complete with a mustache. This look did not suit the man who she knew. Her eyes traveled down to his hairy chest, and downwards to his stomach, finding it slightly bulgy, no longer muscular. She wondered when Flint had woken up for PT with Beach Head last, but was extremely glad to see that he at least wore boxers!

Flint eyed her curiously, his eyes slightly slanted, but didn't respond to her trespassing in his hidden realm.

"What happened to you, Flint?" she softly asked, walking slowly towards him and daring to sit on the tub's rim.

"I shut hell in the shower," Flint responded dangerously serious, taking another sip, only to find the bottle now empty. He threw it by his legs, and took another one from the dozen that sat on the toilet.

What could have happened to the person she knew, the person that had become a valued friend and not just a comrade? What had happened to make the man to only want to feel pain? The answer came immediately as the questions had entered her thoughts. Lady Jaye.

"So our little redhead returned?" Flint asked her, watching her more carefully.

Bravely, she reached her hand and took the bottle just as he went to take a long drink. She didn't answer his question, but reversed it by asking him one. "Tell me what happened to make you come to this?"

He stared at her, lost, with a blank expression on his features, which slowly turned to sorrow, and a dash of pain came to his dull eyes, making them start to grow darker.

"I didn't know you cared," Flint said sarcastically, trying to grab the bottle away from her, but his reflexes were weak from the drink, and he lay back against the tub, his head touching the wall.

"I do care, Flint," Scarlett told him gently, keeping her eyes pinned on his tired looking features. He looked so defeated and alone, that it frightened her.

"Since when? Weren't you the one who left?" Flint growled, now leaning towards to grab another beer bottle only to have her boot meet his hand. "Ow!"

"I'm here now!" she declared, her blue eyes filled with fury. She was not going to have him drown anymore in his pain.

"Too late, Red," he murmured in a defeated tone, closing his eyes. "I was too late."

Scarlett took his hand in hers, and held it gently. "Tell me, talk to me."

"I don't need your help!" Flint shouted at her, his voice echoing in the room from the marble bathroom tiles. He breathed heavier, his eyes getting a far away look, like he was resurfacing a tragic past.

"Flint?"

"What?" he half-growled, not meeting her face, or her eyes.

"Let me in," her voice came soft, squeezing his hand.

Flint glanced at her, watching her carefully as if studying her very closely. But he remained quiet, creating another invisible wall between them, not letting anyone in or out. He had created his own little world were only hurt existed. He pulled his hand away from hers, and once again dropped his stare, away, and glanced towards the mountain of empty beer bottles.

Scarlett patiently waited for an answer, but none came. Letting out a soft defeated sigh, she stood up, turned and started walking out of the bathroom. She would help him, but he needed to figure out first that he needed help.

"Dead."

That one word made her instantly pivot around staring at him in shock. Her blue eyes widened, her mouth turned dry, along with her stomach that twisted and turned. She once again went to the tub, and sat down. "Lady Jaye?"

Flint slowly nodded, still avoiding her face, and her eyes. He shut his eyes tightly, dropping his head downwards, not showing her the tears that he barricaded in his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Flint," Scarlett said sympathetically, feeling the lose herself of a very close friend. Her heart grew heavy, and her hand reached for the stone, touching it lightly through her uniform.

Like a caged wild animal, he burst up with sudden speed, grabbed her from both upper arms, and slammed her against the wall, staring right into her blue eyes that showed her surprise and fear while his own glazed with red fire within. "Don't tell me that! Everyone keeps telling me that!" he shouted right in her face. "She's dead! That is what the military says! But I know she's good as dead!"

"S-she's alive?" Scarlett found herself concluding, swallowing hard the cry from his unexpected outburst and ignoring the pain from his tight grip.

Flint glanced down to his hands, and let go instantly. "I'm sorry, Scarlett," he apologized for his actions. "They declared them all dead, and we can't do anything about it!"

Her heart pounded madly in her chest. "Tell me," she challenged.

He looked at her, right in her dark blue eyes, his own once again turning into a far away look as if remembering it all. "You already know."

"Tell me again," she pressed gently. He had to get this off his chest, and she knew it. The pain had to escape. "Please."

Flint slid down the wall, back in the tub, in a sitting position and hugged his legs to himself. "When Duke split the team in the Himalayas right after Cobra's attack to steal the B.E.T.," he began to explain, "Lady Jaye's unit was attacked by Cobra when they first broke into Cobra La. Most of the unit died from that attack. From what we know, only Lady Jaye, Snake Eyes, Alpine—"

"Alpine?" Scarlett asked, recalling that the mountain trooper had been stationed for guarding the B.E.T. and had not gone with the other unit.

"Yes, Alpine, and Gung Ho were captured," Flint finished, glancing up at her perplexed look.

"Wait a minute, Gung Ho also?" Scarlett asked, sliding down next to him, ignoring the uncomfortable feeling of the bottles from underneath her. "Didn't Duke have them on guard duty for the B.E.T.?"

"Scarlett, you know Duke had Shipwreck, Bazooka and Lifeline on guard duty," Flint told her, with a slight arch in his eyebrow.

Scarlett blinked away her surprise. Lifeline, the pacifist, holding a gun? What was wrong with that picture? "Go on," she finally managed to say.

"Roadblock managed to escape with Cobra Commander by falling in a underground river, as you can recall from the debriefing, and my rescue unit found them half frozen in the snow," Flint continued to explain. "When we returned to base, Cobra Commander had turned into a snake, and Roadblock—" he swallowed.

"Had lost his eyesight," Scarlett finished for him, touching his shoulder.

He nodded. "But before the commander had fully transformed, he surrendered the location of Cobra La."

Scarlett frowned. "So the Joes could destroy Cobra La, and he could once again rule Cobra," she said with thought. "He knew he was turning into a snake, and he knew one day the spore's chemical would take opposite affect."

"Right on the money, Red," Flint agreed to her guessing. "That same night, the base was attacked in order to get to the B.E.T."

Her heart started to thump madly in her chest, recalling the fierce battle in her head, with Cobra La's insect soldiers and creatures attacking. An image came of her driving the Armadillo while shooting at the Marauder, which to her looked like an ugly house sized naked worm, covering Duke's back. The memory showed Duke fighting from a HAVOC, trying to cover her, until another Marauder came from right underneath his HAVOC, making him abandon the vehicle and jump to her arms, shielding her from harm. A blast had ripped them apart, and the next image of Duke had been the one of him lying on the ground, hit from one of Serpentor's staffs. It would be a memory she would hold forever in her mind and in her heart.

"Hawk led the team to Cobra La," Flint's voice broke her image, bringing her back to reality. "It-It was a massacre, and Hawk went missing. We did not know whether he met his end, or was also captured." His voice slightly broke. "I was hit, badly, but I was the one of the lucky ones that survived. The last thing I remember was Lady Jaye, her body limp and not fighting, being carried away by Nemesis Enforcer."

Scarlett touched his arm gently, letting him know she was there. "What happened next?"

"When I woke up from a coma, three months afterwards, Lifeline and Breaker told me what happened," Flint continued, his head bowed, wanting to erase those words, and those images from his head. "Cobra fought with the Joes, until a massive explosion from the Cobra La Castle, sent everyone to the ground."

"The B.E.T.?" Scarlett asked, recalling how Falcon, Sgt. Slaughter and Jinx stopped the machine that would had activated the pods in space and would had transformed every person on Earth into a monster.

"We don't know," Flint answered her.

"Didn't Falcon use the B.E.T. at full power to overload the machine and fry the pods?" Scarlett asked, her mind remembering what had happened.

"Who's Falcon?" Flint asked her, his features turning confused.

Scarlett stared at him, not answering his question. Falcon had been the one who destroyed the pods, and saved the world in front of everyone's eyes. But not everyone, knowing that his brother never got the chance to his little brother in action. Duke had been in a coma when Falcon had accomplished his heroic deed.

Flint blinked, then continued, "I—we tried several times to free the Joe prisoners and every time, failed. Failed, failed, FAILED!" He yelled the last one, his face turning red with anger.

"You can't give up on hope, Flint," Scarlett told him gently.

"There is no hope, Scarlett. It's dead! Jaye's dead!" Flint yelled, banging his fist on the tub, hard. He hung his head between his legs, giving up everything. "Leave me."

"No, I'm not going to leave you alone with this!" Scarlett promised, slowly standing up, the bottles moving in all directions from her movements. She touched the wall, to balance herself. "How would Lady Jaye feel if she knew what you have become?"

His head slowly rose, pale, staring at her as if had been slapped from her yellow glove. "She wouldn't feel, she's dead."

"You don't know that for sure! I'm not giving up," she told him, leaning down and placing her hand under his arm, starting to lift him to his feet. "And neither should you."

Flint didn't answer, just stared away, but allowed her to take a big step in his world, by climbing out of the tub, and walking to the living room. He remained silent, like a cold stone statue, shutting everything out, even hope.

Scarlett placed him in one of the living room's chairs, after kicking the large amount of cluttered clothes and books that had taken over the beige chair, and patted his shoulder, giving him some type of reassurance. She placed a call to the Mess and requested some food to be delivered to the warrant officer's suite. She didn't dare leave him alone. Immediately, she raced back towards the bathroom, and began emptying out all the beer bottles in the dirty looking sink, until each drop from the poisonous drink that had killed his hope was forever gone.

Walking out of the bathroom, she grabbed some clean sheets from the closet, which had probably not seen light for several years, judging from the dustballs in the closet itself. Returning to the living room, she kicked off another pile of clutter from the sofa, and made a comfortable place for him to sleep for the night. Tomorrow would be the day attacking his quarters, but tonight, he needed someone there.

She turned towards the chair, where she had left him, and a small smile curved on her lips finding his eyes closed and breathing softly.

A knock came from the suite's door, and she immediately answered it, finding Lifeline with several food containers in his hands.

Lifeline entered the suite, glanced around unfazed from its appearance, and finally stopped his gaze to the warrant officer. "I'll stay with him tonight," he told her, not looking to her face. "I've done it before." He then turned to her while taking out a passkey. He sent her a half smile. "Here, you know which door this opens."

Scarlett nodded, taking the key. "Goodnight," she bid the medic, then glanced one last time at the warrant officer before she left the suite, closed the door and leaned against it with a sigh. Questions came to her thoughts. The story that Flint had just told her did not match to her own, which she had seen through her eyes. She had been there, fighting Cobra, and knowing that the team had survived the battle. Even Duke.

She gathered her thoughts and began walking down the hallway to her suite. She came to the door, and placed the passkey in the slot, but the door did not unlock. Her face puzzled, she glanced up to find that her suite was no longer hers. It held a different name of one Sergeant O' Hare and that name was scratched off. Holding the passkey up to her eye level, her heart started to pump quicker by the second, knowing which door it opened. She hurriedly started down the hall once again, rounded the corner, and stopped in front of another door. Using the passkey, she inserted it in the slot, which unlocked immediately, letting her inside.

The stale air along with the dusty follicles greeted her, making her sneeze. She switched the lights on while entering the suite, his suite. Her eyes slowly roamed around, spotting everything in its rightful place, just like she knew. She walked to the window, and let in fresh air, allowing the room to breathe, making it alive once again from the years of closure and abandonment.

Several framed pictures placed on a nearby bookshelf caught her attention immediately. She reached and took one in her hands, gently brushing the glass with her glove, letting the picture's colors brighten from its dusty shell. A photograph of herself with Duke came to view, and the lump that had retreated from before returned, this time, larger. She swallowed it back down, not letting it command her. She placed the picture back on the shelf, and glanced at a few others. Next to their picture were pictures of his mother, then one of Flint and Jaye with them, and another of him with his mother. But none of the pictures were of his stepfather or his brother. More questions rose in her head.

"Why did you do this to me?" she asked the air, taking out the necklace with the stone from underneath her uniform, letting it too breathe. She stared closely at the stone for the time, taking note of how brightly it glowed in her hand, like a heart. But for the first time since her eyes fell on the necklace, she notice the image of a golden dragon surrounded the stone as if it too was guarding it. The stone remained silent, teasing her with the unanswered question.

A yawn escaped, and she finally realized her exhaustion from the events of the day. Questions would be asked tomorrow, and answers would lead to more questions. Heading for the bedroom, she didn't bother to switch the lights, but went to the closet, took out one of his old t-shirts, and dressed quickly. Slipping under the covers, her eyelids felt heavy, but felt another presence on the bed. She bolted straight up, switching on the table lamp and the phase, "What the blue blazes!" tumbled out of her mouth, while her blue eyes stared at the blue fuzzy creature staring right back at her. She blinked finding a bedmate for the night, of one Cookie Monster from Sesame Street. She shook her head, switched off the lights, and cuddled close with the stuffed animal that had a trace of his after-shave aroma. Her hand touched the stone, before wrapping itself around the blue monster, and holding it tightly, she fell fast asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Her blue eyes opened and found a wall of blue. Blue, like his crystal blue eyes. His eyes, realization set in while her own blue eyes blinked. It wasn't a dream. Her eyes told her just that. It couldn't be a dream for her blue eyes saw the blue wall as real as her touch. Her fingers felt the blue, lingered for a moment before circling around, making the blue color shift and gazed into a pair of dark pupils which met her blue ones.

Cookie Monster stared back at her. His mouth in a wide grin as if mocking her, letting her know from his silence that he knew all the answers to her endless questions. Her hand remained on the soft blue fuzzy fur. _"Tell me what happened!_" her thoughts demanded.

"_I won't tell you a thing!_" the monster's eyes claimed.

Scarlett continued to stare at the stuffed animal, her eyes never leaving its. Her hand remained on its fur, closed her eyes for a mere second, and let everything sink in. _No, not a dream but a nightmare! _And she was in that nightmare, living it, being part of its demons.

Moving her hand away from the blue furry creature's fur, it traveled to the dragon stone. Somehow that stone had transported her into another world, another realm—a world where death could be the only outcome. The lump, from the day before, returned—this time larger, wanting to be released but she bravely swallowed it down, not bending to its will.

Fighting back the tears, she sat up, her head still reeling from the aftermath of the day before. Images began to resurface from her memory of him—his words, his face and then his grave. Her thoughts spun, recalling the fierce battle, one that almost cost the Joes their entire existence. She knew Cobra would never let a minor setback towards their victorious glory wait for long. Cobra would return, ready to strike with its poisonous attack— and destroy everything in its wake.

Throwing the covers off, she stood up from the bed, leaving the blue creature alone. Her eyes drifted down towards the white sheets, to the pillows, and to the blanket that had kept her warm the night before. Another shocking realization occurred in her mind. His bed! It struck her like a sharp knife plunging into the depths of her heart. Many dreams and fantasies surfaced— most of them about sleeping in that bed— with him. Her fantasy had come true. The rapid beating of her heart in her chest reflected the reality of the situation. Though she had slept in his bed, he hadn't.

A sorrowful sigh escaped and she turned away from the bed. Grabbing a shirt and sweatpants from his closet, she headed for the bathroom. A shower would do her good, relax her aching muscles and clear her thoughts. She washed away the dirt and grime of the day before, savoring the touch of the hot water against her skin, reviving the soldier within. Time stood endless while her body tried to heal from the battle. Not the battle she helped fight the evening before, but the battle that raged in her heart that had stood between them. Their fight. Their battle. _Would she see that battle end?_ she wondered.

Scarlett stepped out of the shower with a towel wrapped around her; she let the wet red locks drape on her back, feeling the hair cling against her skin. She stood in front of the bathroom's sink, wiping the foggy mirror with the palm of her hand, finding her reflection staring back at her with those dark blue eyes, those cunning eyes that caught two crystal blue ones from right behind her!

Another lump replaced the one that still roamed in her throat, but this one thrusting forwards and letting the scream be released. Whirling around, she found herself panting, staring at those crystal blue eyes that bore on her own. His face. His face so close to hers made her head spin. Her hand reached out slowly to his face, touching it lightly with the tip of her fingers and her heart thundered as she slowly flattened her palm on his face, his flat face which was connected to the rest of a poster. She took a step backwards, looking closely at his profile. Those hard looking eyes, that strong jaw, the Adam's apple which bopped each time he barked at the troops, his strong chest and arms, his muscular stomach, all the way down to his signature brown boots.

"You really are a poster boy, Duke," she murmured to large picture of him, saluting, with the words, _G. I. JOE WANTS YOU! _

She must've been deep in her thoughts for her to miss the poster hung in the hallway, right outside the bathroom's door.

Her eyes glued upon his features became misty, mimicking the fogged up mirror with its own droplets trailing down. _No! Don't you dare cry! _Her thoughts commanded. She shut her eyes tight, took a deep breath and walked out of the bathroom, without locking on those crystal blue eyes.

She dressed quickly, pulled her hair in its signature ponytail and looked out the window, staring at the orange-violet sky from the sun's waking hour. Her eyes drifted to the obstacle course, searching for the morning exercises and the angry-looking Beach Head, but to her surprise, she found the course deserted. Maybe the drill sergeant had let the troops sleep in from the aftermath of the battle. But that was highly unlikely for Beach Head to give anyone a break, under _any _circumstances.

Questions started to rise with the sun. This whole situation didn't make any sense. Too many pieces of the puzzle didn't fit. What had really occurred on the night of the B.E.T. battle on this base? What had really happened in Cobra La? Why were some teammates positioned in the other half of the team when Duke had split them up? Who had perished in the battle? She knew several members of the second team had been captured. What had happened to those team members? Were they dead as Flint had been informed? Or were they still out there, still in Cobra's clutches? And why had Cobra changed their battle colors? For as long as she could remember, their enemy's color was blue, not gold. Had Cobra dominated the world and truly become undefeated?

No— that question was easily answered. If Cobra had really dominated the world, G. I. Joe would not exist. But, Cobra had somehow grown stronger and powerful enough to win its battles against G. I. Joe— until last night. She knew they would return to complete what they had not finished. Would the Joes survive the next attack?

She glanced away from the obstacle course and looked around the other areas. Debris still covered most the ground and she knew it would be a few days until the base returned to normal, but in this world, what was normal?

The sun's ray captured the red stone, feeding it with its strong light, letting it absorb the power. Her hand reached to the pendant, held it in her palm, and once again studied the red stone. A thin ray of light touched the golden dragon's red eye, causing a deep red glow for a split second, before it vanquished. Her breath froze. Had she imagined that? The light was playing tricks on her. Her finger rose to touch the dragon's red eye when the tapping sound held her action.

"Scarlett?" came Cover Girl's muffled voice.

Her head snapped towards the door and she discovered that her breath was still being held prisoner in her lungs. She instantly released the pendant, letting it once again fall on her chest and for a moment, she felt the stone's weight grow heavier.

"Scarlett? Are you all right?" Cover Girl's voice had turned alert, filled with concern.

"C-coming!" Scarlett called out, her legs now moving for her to answer the door. She cast one last downward glance at the stone that rested just above her heart before she turned the knob and let in a worried looking Wolverine driver.

Cover Girl's face did little to hide her irritation. "I can't believe that husband of mine let you sleep in here! What was he thinking!" She held a large brown bag in her hands and marched directly to the table in the kitchenette.

Scarlett walked behind the other woman. "It's all right, really," she said, heading for the coffeepot.

"Don't bother, I got it all covered," Cover Girl waved her away from that area. "No one has been in here—" her words stopped in mid-sentence, her features turning pale.

"It's all right, I realized last night that no one has been in Duke's quarters for a long time," Scarlett claimed, walking back to the table.

"Sit. I got plenty of coffee and your favorite raspberry muffins from Red Rocket." Cover Girl reached into the brown bag, taking out two cups of coffee, placed them on the table and once again reached into the bag, pulling out the muffins.

Scarlett must have been gapping towards the Red Rocket icon on the cups of coffee for Cover Girl gave her a curious glance.

"Scarlett, maybe we should head to my suite," Cover Girl urged, grabbing one of the Red Rocket coffee cups and started to put it back into the bag.

"No!" Scarlett's surprised outburst nearly caused the cup of Red Rocket coffee to drop the other woman's hold and spill on the table.

Cover Girl gave her another puzzled expression before she set the cup back down. "Are you sure?"

"Positive," Scarlett answered, and proving her word, she took out the sugar and milk from the bag.

"All right," Cover Girl murmured, sitting down in one of the chairs. "I understand." She continued to stare at the counterintelligence agent with a slight frown. "The Mess Hall was pretty dinged up last night, so Roadblock ordered breakfast from his family's restaurant. We're pretty lucky a Red Rocket is just outside the base."

Scarlett blinked in surprise. She recalled the mission in her mind, remembering how Roadblock, Flint and Lady Jaye had stopped the Red Rocket restaurant chain, which had belonged to none other than Extensive Enterprises. Cobra had rigged real missiles on the rockets on top of the Red Rocket drive-ins restaurants. They had discovered that Cobra's locations for launching missiles around the United States matched perfectly to the Red Rocket locations. But from her knowledge, she knew that the Red Rocket Drive-ins had gone out of business, no thanks to the Joes.

Cover Girl frowned. "You still like raspberry, right?" She sat down across from Scarlett and took out two paper plates, placing two raspberry muffins on each one.

"Uh, yes," Scarlett managed to say, glancing from the Red Rocket icon to the muffin itself. Any G. I. Joe member knew how she despised raspberry muffins. Any G. I. Joe member knew that her favorite was blueberry. But, in this world, it was the opposite.

"Did you sleep well?" Cover Girl inquired, her brown eyes staring at the counterintelligence agent.

Scarlett merely nodded, picked up her coffee and took a long sip. Her mind raced, thinking, watching her teammate's complex features. Cover Girl was not there for the basic small talk, she was there to interrogate! Questions had risen from the other side as well—questions that Cover Girl had been sent to find the answers. _Two could play this game. _She needed to be cautious what she said and what information she leaked.

"Sugar?" Cover Girl asked, offering the small paper packet.

"No thanks," Scarlett answered, placing down the Red Rocket cup.

Cover Girl nodded, poured milk in her own coffee, then added seven sugar packets. "Don't tell my husband," she smirked, taking a sip.

Scarlett shook her head. "I won't." She waited, knowing it was coming. Cover Girl was smart, buying time.

As if the Wolverine driver had read her mind, she took a bite of muffin, munched, swallowed and then—attacked. "So, intrigue me, why this unexpected visit?"

"I came because I thought I was needed," Scarlett answered, her tone even, not allowing any faults to it. She hadn't lied, the truth hung in her words. They had needed her assistance the night before, which was no mistake.

Cover Girl nodded, leaned back in the chair and took another sip of coffee. "Why now?"

"I don't know, but I would say the timing was perfect, wouldn't you agree?" Scarlett countered, her eyes narrowing. She stood her ground, not wanting to lose this battle. If she did, then there was no hope of finding out why she had been transported into this realm.

Cover Girl blinked, then slowly nodded again, her eyes never leaving the dark blue ones. "It would seem you came at the perfect moment, we almost lost that battle, no thanks to my flying."

"You did fine up there," Scarlett assured the woman.

"Me? Fine up there?" Cover Girl snapped her head backwards and let out a feigned laugh. "Scarlett, surely you have forgotten, I don't know how to fly!"

This time Scarlett blinked. Cover Girl didn't know how to fly? At all? The questions raced in her head demanding more information, answers. She had seen the tank jockey not only fly a Sky Striker but also heard about her piloting a Cobra Rattler!

Now Cover Girl's eyes became thin slits, mimicking a snake's. "Tell me, why did you assume I knew how to pilot a Striker?"

Thinking quickly, Scarlett said, "The fact that I saw you—not to mention heard you— in a Sky Striker informed me you flew."

Cover Girl nodded, taking another sip of the coffee. "Edwin didn't like the idea of me flying." Her cheeks turned rosy, something the redhead had rarely seen. "I'm expecting."

"Congratulations!" Scarlett said, after the surprise from the announcement wore off. She reached across the table and squeezed the woman's hand. Now, that question which she pondered in her head about Lifeline's reason for his deep concern over his wife's welfare fell into place. Of course, the man would be concerned anytime Cover Girl had ventured into battle, but this time, the reason was more precious. And Scarlett wondered how far along that precious was for the tank jockey did not show any indication of her delicate state.

"Thanks," Cover Girl sent her a sincere smile. Her brown eyes glanced downwards towards the necklace and her grin curved brighter. "Oh! How pretty!"

Before Scarlett could protest, or back away, the tank jockey reached across the table, her fingers only inches away from the red stone. But just as those fingers edged closer, almost touching the red gem, they retreated, and froze in mid air.

Scarlett gave Cover Girl a curious glance, watching her expression turn from curiosity to surprise.

"Now that was weird," Cover Girl commented, her eyes still glued to the stone, placing her hand on the coffee cup.

"What?" Scarlett asked casually, trying to conceal any alarm that raced through her head. Surely, the tank jockey had witnessed something about the stone. A heartbeat passed and the other woman's face deepened into a frown.

"The stone," Cover Girl answered, now glancing up at the redhead. "It moved away when I went to touch it."

Scarlett gave off a feigned laugh. "The sunlight must have played a trick on you." She studied the tank jockey's face, hoping she would buy the excuse, but in reality her own heart pulsed faster in her chest. _Good grief!_ she thought. What kind of stone is this? Is it really alive? The heart of a dragon like Ying Ty had explained during the meeting? But out loud she said, "You must be exhausted from the battle and the long night."

"I guess you're right," Cover Girl gave in to the counterintelligence's reasoning. "Just the day before, I thought I was chewing on a piece of broccoli, only it wasn't a piece of broccoli!"

"What was it then?" Scarlett asked, bewildered. She took a sip of the coffee, letting the warm liquid flow down her throat.

"Flint's old beret," Cover Girl answered, her rosy cheeks changed into a deeper color.

Scarlett laughed but then turned serious. "What happened to him? That was not the Flint I know—knew." Her heart pounded, hoping Cover Girl didn't notice her mistake.

Cover Girl sighed, glanced down at her coffee, and explained, "He's not the man that you knew. He's changed, for the worse. Ever since he recovered from his injury, he lost all battles." The dark brown eyes locked on the dark blue ones. "After losing Lady Jaye, you can say his entire world crumbled beneath him."

"But Lady Jaye is still alive, right?" Scarlett pursued, hoping now to turn the tables on her interrogator. "You said last night that you had tried on several occasions to free Lady Jaye and the others from Cobra La."

"We tried, Red, several times, but somehow Cobra knew of our attacks and they were expecting us," Cover Girl released the information that she needed.

"Did you attack from the river entrance?" Scarlett inquired, watching the tank jockey closely, but also watching her own questions. She couldn't make a mistake and be found out. They might conclude that she did not belong, an impostor. Not believe her story and all would be lost.

"Yes, we tried entering from the river but Nemesis Enforcer and his insect soldiers were waiting for us. As we entered Cobra La, they sprung on us like bees to honey. None of us expected the attack," Cover Girl revealed. She took a large bite of raspberry muffin and chewed. "Everything was planned precisely. In. Out. No mistakes."

Scarlett nodded, her finger came to her cheek and she frowned. "Odd, how did Cobra uncover the plan?"

Cover Girl's eyes flared. "What are you insinuating, Scarlett?" Her tone rose with a hint of anger. "That one of us is a traitor? That _won't _happen again!"

Won't happen again? The words rolled again in her head. Of course! Dusty! He was a traitor for Cobra, but in reality, he was only an undercover double agent, which only Duke only knew and none other of the Joes, including herself, had an inkling of that mission. Could it be that in this world, Dusty was a real traitor? She hoped that it wasn't true, but looking directly into Cover Girl's eyes, it was the truth.

"That wasn't what I meant," Scarlett replied, keeping her tone in check. "I was more thinking of hidden mechanical bugs or hackers breaking in the main computer system."

Cover Girl nodded, agreed. "Breaker came to the same conclusion. We have checked every corner of the base and searched every file on the main computer, but found not a trace of anything."

Scarlett frowned. "Then, how did Cobra gather that information on the mission?"

A sigh escaped from the other side of the table. "I wish I knew." Cover Girl looked at the counterintelligence agent, her eyes recognizing Duke's oversized shirt, which had drowned the woman. "Red, your old uniform and a spare is still in the martial arts room, if you need it."

"Thanks, I'll see to that today. I'm surprised Beach Head hasn't burst through the door, barking to head for the obstacle course."

Cover Girl's face turned ashen, and she almost spilled her coffee. From gripping the cup tightly, her knuckles turned white, matching her face. "Scarlett, Beach Head is not here."

Beach Head gone too? Images of the ranger, making everyone run double time entered her memory and then vanished. "What happened to him?" she queried, hoping that he too had not met his end during battle.

"He left the Joes," came the answer, distant and sober.

"Why?"

Cover Girl turned her head away from the prying eyes that studied every twitching muscle upon her face. "To tell you the truth, none of us knows the real reason. He sold out after you left."

Sold out? Those were Cover Girl's exact wording for the ranger, who had entered G. I. Joe and had become every Joe's drill sergeant nightmare. But, thanks to Beach Head, all of the Joes were in top shape. His exercise program surpassed any other military physical training program in the country and he was proud of his accomplishment. How can such a proud soldier have voluntarily resigned himself from a world that dominated his soul?

Scarlett's interest peaked. Though there were too many questions that still reeled around in her head, she knew they would be answered. The missing pieces of the puzzle will be placed and the entire story of what happened during and after Cobra La would be revealed.

A tenor's voice, singing, Roger and Hammerstein's_, There's Nothin' Like a Dame_, from South Pacific, caught the redhead's attention and she glanced towards the window, her eyes wide.

Cover Girl rose from her chair and walked to the window, peeping out. "Looks like our Broadway star is singing his songs earlier than usual." She leaned against the wall, next to the window, the sun embracing her copper hair, making it shimmer from its touch.

Scarlett stood up, in two strides went to the window, glanced out and spotted Shipwreck with a broom piling up together an assortment of Cobra Super B.A.T. dismembered pieces. He stopped, let out a high note in perfect pitch, then continued to clean the debris.

Dumbfounded, her mouth opened, she blinked. "Shipwreck?" The bewilderment in her voice rang clear.

Cover Girl swallowed a snicker. "Yeah Red, who else could sing like that?" She shook her head, staring at the sailor. "I think he still regrets leaving acting, even though his show, _Shipwreck_ had been canceled. He had the chance to return to the theater, but chose us instead."

Scarlett merely nodded, her dark blue eyes still watching the sailor, who now had taken his broom and had began a series of dance steps with it. Seeing him take the broom in both hands and jump over it in a mid-air twist while still holding on to the handle, left her speechless. Since the Naval officer had first joined G. I. Joe, his impression had been nothing more than of a loudmouth, whose constant comical action had earned him several lengthy punishments from the top command and flirtatious personality had earn him several jabs, slaps and kicks from the women. But under no degree, did Shipwreck acknowledge any interest in theater, let alone sing any song in perfection!

A beeping sound came to her ears and her eyes traveled to Cover Girl's belt, spotting a small red light blinking.

Cover Girl looked down and pressed the button on the beeper. "Duty calls. Breaker needs me down in the laboratory. Probably he discovered something from that B.A.T head." Her features turned into a frown. "Lunch?"

"Sure," Scarlett agreed, following the tank jockey towards the door.

"Good, meet you at my suite around noon?"

"Noon is fine," Scarlett answered, though finding Cover Girl's suite would be another adventure. The tank jockey assumed that the counterintelligence agent knew where the couple's living quarters was located.

Cover Girl beamed, then quickly left, leaving the redhead alone.

Scarlett walked over to the table, cleaned the breakfast mess, but instead of throwing the uneaten raspberry muffins away, she put them into the bag, grabbed the passkey from the counter and headed out of the door. Striding with a quick step down the hallway, she rounded the corner and headed straight for Flint's quarters. She wondered how he had spent the night, but then assumed he spent it exactly the way he had over the course of years.

This time, she didn't bother to knock on the warrant officer's door, but swung it open. She strode into the filthy looking living room and stopped right in front of his sleeping form. Her eyes narrowed, spotting his closed eyes, the thin trail of drool dripping from the corner of his mouth, and then turned into thin slits spotting the beer bottle in his left hand. She was positive that she'd had poured every drop of the liquid down the drain. He must have a secret stash somewhere, but where? Anger rose from within her veins. She kicked herself for not searching the rest his quarters. This time, none of the poisonous drink would escape her hands.

"Flint, wake up!" Scarlett barked at the man, who only moved his head from side to side, barely acknowledging her presence.

Placing the brown bag on the already overflowing coffee table, she pivoted around and her kick met his lower shin, hard.

A grunt came from deep within his throat and his eyelids slowly opened, spotting the redhead. "I see my nightmare returned," his raspy dry voice cringed.

"Good morning to you too," Scarlett replied unfazed from his comment. She reached for the bottle but he was quicker this time, pulling it further away from her grasp. "Give me that."

"Like hell I will!" Flint snarled, his dull eyes locked to her blue ones.

He tried to stand up, but fell back to the chair, powerless from the drink.

Scarlett's own vocal chords growled at his state. Goodness knew how much he had drunk after Lifeline had left him. She made a mental note to talk to Lifeline about Flint's condition. If she had to place a Greenshirt in the warrant officer's quarters 24/7, so be it! She was not going to stand and watch him destroy himself.

"I brought you something to eat," she said, trying to deflect his attention from the bottle that he clung onto.

"I'm not hungry," he grumbled, taking a swing of the bottle, drinking the rest of the liquid. He let out a loud belch and threw the bottle towards her, missing her right shoulder by a quarter of an inch before it smashed against the wall, glass flying everywhere. He stared at her and his diabolical laugher hung in the air.

"You can rot for all I care!" Her control snapped, her eyes burning with a red tint of fire. "But that is not the warrant officer I know! The person who would risk his own life to save another Joe! The Flint I know wouldn't drown in a sea of beer."

"That Flint is dead," he murmured, his dull eyes upon her. He brushed his nose with his hairy arm, before he turned and spit into the garbage pail, a few feet away. "You can't help dead people."

"Watch me!" Her voice flared. She became determined not to see him bury himself deeper, and vanishing from the world, forever. She turned, grabbed the brown paper bag and threw it against his bulgy stomach. "Eat!"

Flint continued to gaze at her with a scowl of imprudence. "When did Duke die and leave you queen?"

All the blood disappeared from her heart shaped face, leaving only the white cream underneath. She blinked at him, her heart grew heavy and the waves of shock, realism and sorrow raced through her veins. She knew it was the drink, she knew he hadn't meant what he said but it still stung, the pain slowly filled her heart, knowing that Duke was truly dead.

She took a step backwards, wanting to retreat, wanting to run back into the first sergeant suite and fill it with her tears of anger and despair. Yet, she took a deep breath, held it for a moment, before releasing it slowly.

Flint slowly rose, watching her face, the bag of raspberry muffins falling onto a pile of dirty clothes and he took a step towards her. "Red, I'm sorry, I-I forgot."

Scarlett managed to nod, accepting his apology. "Eat, Flint. Please," she softly said. One step at a time. She had to take it slowly with him. He's pain ranged deep within his veins and making the wrong step, the wrong move, could be deadly.

His muscles tensed and for a split second she though he would attack. But to her relief, though ready to block his flying fists, he sank down back into the chair and buried his face in his hands.

The door to the suite swung open and Roadblock walked in with Socks. "Morning, Red. I hope you had a good night's sleep in bed."

Scarlett turned to the heavy gunner, sending him a smile. "Morning Roablock, Socks."

Socks wagged his stubby tail, returning her greeting. He led Roadblock towards them and stationed himself right next to his owner.

"I brought plenty of food, just to brighten this dull mood," Roadblock rhymed. He rested a large brown bag on the coffee table, surprising the redhead on how he known the location of the table precisely. But nothing surprised her with Roadblock, nothing and yet, it now did.

Flint grumbled about not being able to be alone for one minute and closed his eyes. Soon, his loud nasal snoring dominated the room.

Roadblock stationed himself on the couch, Socks by his side. "Go on Red, I'll make sure this guy eats or I'll pound him on the head!"

Scarlett nodded, but immediately realized that the heavy gunner could not see her actions, so she said, "Thank you, Roadblock. I'll come to see him in the afternoon."

Roadblock nodded. "Lifeline said, there will be a meeting for last night's Cobra robot lead."

"Thanks, Roadblock," Scarlett replied, giving one last glance towards Flint, who continued to snore, louder and headed out of the warrant officer's quarters. Briskly walking down the hallway, she headed downstairs and out of the barracks.

Greenshirts stopped cleaning the debris and saluted her then continued on with their never-ending task. The base it seemed took a heavy hit from the last Cobra battle. But taking a closer analytical scan of the Headquarters, it seemed that the buildings themselves had taken several severe tolls prior to this latest attack. She frowned while walking towards the two story building to her right, which mainly housed several exercise rooms and the martial arts rooms. Stepping inside, the darkness greeted her and her frown deepened. It looked empty, almost abandoned. She headed straight for the locker area, recalling how she always kept an extra clean uniform inside her locker. The lights flicked on as she flipped the switch and entered the martial arts room. She could almost see and hear Snake Eyes or Jinx practicing with weapons or the sound of an arrow racing towards a target. The hollow looking vision that her mind created disappeared and reality sunk in once again.

Her fingers trailed over her dust-covered locker, before she opened it, and took out a clean uniform. That remained the same, everything else in this world was the complete opposite, yet, her clothing and the Joe's uniforms had remained the same. She quickly changed into her yellow and dark blue uniform, put on an newer looking pair of boots, which she noted had not been worn, and then found her stash of blue hair ties.

"Heeelp me…."

A raspy non-humanlike voice flew into the room and brought all her senses to alert. She whirled around, trying to pinpoint the location of the voice. Her mind raced, gathering all her training together. She was not alone in the building, that was for sure.

Glancing about, she could not locate her crossbow, and she cursed under her breath. But, thankfully, she found a long fighting bo on the wall. Snake Eyes's weapons wall still existed, even though the ninja had become Cobra's captive, each weapon waited in patience to be once again taken down and used once again.

Slowly, careful not to make any sound to announce her position, she ventured across the room, her eyes darting left and right for any indication of movement. The voice had come from the further corner of the room.

"Heelp me…."

The hairs on her nape of her neck rose upward and tingled from the eerie cry, hearing it now in a lower tone and weaker. Whoever it was, he needed her help! She neared the end of the room and came to a steel door. Carefully, she reached, turned the knob and swung it open. _Odd_, she thought, _It's not locked._

"Heelp…."

Scarlett entered a dark corridor, but dared not to flick any light on. Whoever it was, the voice sounded closer, weaker. She touched the wall, letting it guide her towards the unknown, her feet moved slowly, carefully, until, she felt the floor from underneath her completely disappear. Panic did not rise, for she lowered her leg and touched on a steel step with a _clank_ echoing from the result.

Descending down the steel staircase, still on guard, perspiration dripped down her forehead. It felt warmer, the air itself stiffer, harder to breath. Her heart raced in her chest, her blue eyes blinking, trying to accustom in the new surroundings. She could feel the weight of the stone growing heavier, or was it her imagination or the state of her mind playing tricks? She quickly glanced down to her chest, finding the stone dark and cold. Her own spine shivered, though the heat indicated a different temperature.

A sound came from her left and she abruptly halted, her eyes darting around the darkness, the fighting bo ready in her hands for any form of attack and her breath seized in her lungs.

"Heelp me…."

The ghostly voice made her slowly turn towards the wall. Her hand reached forward and touched a second steel door. Her heart in her throat, her fingers tracing down slowly on the cold metal, she grasped the knob and turned. It clicked open, easily, making her eyebrows fuse together in disapproval.

She knew the entire base by heart and yet, she had never glimpsed this part. This hidden realm shielded by only from the rooms above it. Striding carefully through the door, she entered a small square room. Two thin ceiling lights, each from one end of the room, touched a large glass tank.

"Heelp me…."

The gasping weak sound came from within the room, right around the glass tank, which held two brown objects. Closing in on the tank, she discovered that the two objects were large wooden half tree trunks. Blinking away her surprise, she turned, heading for the door when a movement caught her attention by the doorway, depriving her from leaving the room.

A large golden snake slithered in her path and coiled into a circle. It's body ten feet long, it's blue eyes staring at hers, and it's tongue sticking out. The serpent hissed, sending a tremor down her body. Scarlett gripped the fighting bo tighter in her hands, ready, just when the snake rose its front body, mouth wide open, ready to strike and kill.


	5. Chapter 5

I would like to thank once again Amy Kay and Pixie Red for Beta reading this story till chapter four. From Chapter Five and on, I'm no longer using Beta. Beta takes too much energy and time from others and I don't want to hold any responsiblity for that.

* * *

With sharp fangs evident, the sight of the thin tongue apparent and the blue eyes locked upon her own, Scarlett took a step slowly backwards from the massive looking golden snake. Fighting bo raised high, in a tight grip, her eyes alert and keen, ready for the strike, watching every solid looking muscle twitch, moving slowly forward, and her own muscles tensed, anticipating for the attack. Perspiration formed on her brow, the heat of the room attacking, thrusting its power against her too.

The serpent hissed, its dark blood colored tongue pointing toward her, marking its target. Its head rose high, the blue eyes never leaving hers, not even for a heartbeat. Poised for the deadly strike, its body slowly curling, the muscles contracting together to form a powerful mass, ready to spring forward to destroy whatever object in its path.

Scarlett felt her heart begin to quicken, hammering in her chest. Poised, ready to counterattack with her senses on high alert, awaiting the first move. Feet apart, fighting bo raised in front, shielding her from harm, eyes locked on the sharp fangs and in a heartbeat everything became a blur for the fangs found their way to her left side. Her heart almost burst and the bo shattered in two.

The snake, hissing in aggravation for missing its target, blood trickling down the side of its mouth and muscles twitching, slithered closer, sprung forward, aiming for her heart. A hiss echoed in the air, golden venom dripping from the sharp fangs and stone cold eyes that held only a reflection of death itself.

Fighting panic, Scarlett whirled, her hands stretched in front and the sharp ends of what remained of the bo pricking the snake's skin and sent it flying to the ground in a heap. Her lungs locked, tightened at the sight of the creature, which had shed a small pool of blood from her strike.

"I mean you no harm," she claimed, raising the two broken sticks, ready. That earned her another attack, for the snake shook its head, aimed and the golden mass once again flew toward her, this time its aim lower.

With a calculated flip in the air, Scarlett noted the golden color that passed her, missing her by an inch and her feet touched the cement floor, watching the snake smack into the hard wall, sending it to the floor, disoriented.

She felt the serpent's gaze, its silence making her uneasy. Her intelligent eyes searched the dimmed room, looking for anything to keep her defended from those dangerous eyes that roamed onto her.

Mouth wide open, sharp fangs glittering by the silvery light from one of the ceiling's lights, the snake curled once again in a tight ball of muscle.

From the corner of her eye, she locked on to her escape route—the door. If she made precise footing, her demise would not end with the snake encounter.

The hiss raced to her ears and she ran, wasting not a split second. A wall of gold flew past her, landing and blocking her path.

Inwardly cursing, taking two strides to her left, aiming the two sticks toward the snake, she let out a battle cry, letting her lungs unleash their power.

"What the _hell_ is going on in here?" boomed an unpleasant voice behind the snake.

A shadow crossed the doorway as someone entered the room and stopped near the large cold-blooded animal.

Scarlett halted, panting, still gripping the sticks tightly in her hands.

The silver light touched the features of an irritated looking medic.

Lifeline looked down at the snake, his eyes narrowed, then looked at the counterintelligence agent. "I repeat, what is going on here?" His tone was authoritative, stern.

"She… came… here," a slow raspy voice answered.

Lifeline turned to the snake. "I see that." He looked once again toward her. "What are you doing down here? This place is off limits to everyone."

Scarlett blinked, her gaze glued on the serpent. She had seen its mouth open, uttering those words, "She came here." It wasn't her imagination playing tricks on her. No. The snake talked! She heard it, its voice, so familiar, so evil.

Looking to Lifeline, who had not let his gaze leave her face, waiting for an answer, she had no intention of speaking falsely.

"I was in the locker room when I heard a voice calling for help and it led me here," she answered, her gaze remaining on the deadly animal, who slithered closer to Lifeline. Her senses alert, carefully watching the snake's movements, ready to react at any sign of aggression toward the other team member. Thankfully, no other attack came. She felt the stone underneath her uniform turn heavier for a blink of a second, or was it purely her imagination?

The snake slithered around Lifeline's ankles while still staring at her, its blue eyes locked to her own. Its tongue sticking out, rapidly vibrating—teasing. Then its gaze shifted to her chest, right where the stone touched her beating heart.

Lifeline's eyes widened. "You couldn't possibly have heard a cry for help. These walls are ten feet thick." He looked down at the snake. "Commander, were you playing tricks again?"

The massive golden serpent looked up, blinked twice and shook its head slowly.

She let out a sigh. Lifeline wouldn't believe her for she could see that in his experienced eyes.

"See that it doesn't happen again." His tone changed, filled with deadly seriousness.

Was that a command for her? Or was he directing it to the snake? For the moment, she didn't want to aggravate the medic further.

Scarlett merely nodded. The snake let out a low hiss, still watching her with its bloodthirsty stare.

Lifeline raked a hand through his dark thick hair then blew out a long slow breath. "Good." He looked down at the gold serpent. "Lunch."

He turned, walked out of the room and returned holding a small brown box. Kneeling down on one knee, he slowly lifted the lid and pulled out a large brown rabbit. The animal, fearing for its life, boxed its feet on the medic's hands, able to escape for a split second before a golden wall sprung forward and two fangs grabbed hold of the rabbit's scruff.

Bones snapping in two echoed in Scarlett's ears and she closed her eyes, before looking away, listening to the snake devour its meal. A shiver went down her spine, realizing that at any given moment, the snake could rebel and strike both her and Lifeline.

"Blast it! You're hurt!" Lifeline's strident voice made her eyes snap open and she spotted the medic looking directly at the wound caused by the fighting bo.

Another hiss came from the snake as it tried to conceal its battle wound. Was it scared? Or was it pride?

She glanced to the blood still trickling down the golden scales, droplets of red falling to the ground, fusing together with the rabbit's.

"I need to wrap this up." Lifeline looked at her directly then walked over to a small cabinet at the farthest side of the room. He opened the top drawer, and pulled out bandages, syringes and other veterinary supplies. He nodded to her before returning to the snake and starting to clean the wound.

Was that a dismissal?

Apparently so, for the medic had his full attention on the wound and the animal. The golden creature however, glanced her way and she could swear the snake winked. This was not over. She knew it. Next time the battle may send one of the opponents six feet under and she was not going to be the one walking through the golden gates. However, she wouldn't mind escorting the serpent to the gates of the underworld!

Turning, she headed for the door, but Lifeline's command halted her in her tracks.

"Meeting Room Alpha."

Scarlett turned, gave a short nod, followed by, "I will see you there." Hoping that her tone foretold the creature the warning if anything would happen to the medic, the next thing it would see would be the fighting bo's sharp end!

With a last glance to the golden snake, watching its movements cautiously, reassuring herself that the medical teammate was not in any danger, she turned and walked out of the room. Glancing to her left, she spotted the steel staircase that had led her to the hidden underground room and its cold-blooded resident. Heading up the stairs, she returned to the training room and found it empty.

Walking outside the building, she caught sight of several Greenshirts cleaning debris along with Shipwreck and Mutt.

Shipwreck spotted her, and winked. He bent over, picking up a B.A.T.'s head, closed his eyes, touched his chest and his features were of a man grieving. "Poor Battle Android Trooper, I knew him well," he murmured in his rendition of the Shakespearean line.

"Yeah, you did." Mutt glanced up from his pile of debris. "Wasn't he your last date? Or was that this B.A.T.?" He gestured to his shovel, which held several B. A.T. parts. "Face it, Wreck, you got dumped!"

And with that, the military police soldier dumped the debris over the sailor's head with a hearty laugh.

"Hey!" Shipwreck cried out, dusting off his sailor hat and uniform. "That was your date, not mine!"

Scarlett could not help but giggle at the pair. Some things, she mused, remained the same. But most things, especially in this world, did not. Heaving a sigh, she started toward the main building, her thoughts in a tangled mixture of what she'd had just witnessed down below levels and to what she noted from the Joes. Though both Mutt and Shipwreck teased one another, the aura surrounding them remained tense. As if expecting a surprised attack coming from behind at any given moment!

Her mind reeled with thoughts. Why were the elite members of the G. I. Joe unit frightened? For as long as she knew each individual on the team, none had shown fear for any snake attack. It came second nature to all the Joes, fighting with Cobra, a never-ending battle. However, considering the present circumstances, one would have no sanity if not to be fearful of the snake empire.

Recalling last night's encounter with Cobra, her thoughts turned to the battle itself, seeing it as if for the first time. There was no structure, no command, and in addition, no Joes. True, Breaker and Lifeline were in the control room, Shipwreck and Cover Girl in Strikers, Mutt, Law, Wild Bill and some others as ground troops. She did not know where Roadblock was stationed during battle, but her thoughts grew gray wondering if he was capable of even fighting with Cobra. But, knowing the heavy gunner, he would never miss a chance to cook some snake grub!

Her heart grew heavy when her thoughts moved to the chain of command. Hawk, missing in action. Duke, dead. Flint, invalid. Beach Head, sold out. Lady Jaye, dead. Alpine, Gung Ho, Snake Eyes, were they dead too? And what about the other Joes like Ace, Dusty, Spirit, Stalker, Ripcord… had they fallen in battle too? Gone from this world? Gone from her life? A shiver crawled down her spine as her stomach twisted from the vile thought.

Her thoughts turned to the hidden room below levels and to the snake. Cobra Commander right underneath her very boots. Cobra's leader so close, it unnerved her. Was he the reason Cobra attacked? In order to free their leader? It must be, she mused. There was no other logical reason, was there? A new thought dawned in her mind. Was Cobra Commander their captive? Or was the big snake under their protective custody? The way Lifeline tended to the Commander concluded that it could be the latter! But why? For what possible reason were they protecting the Commander? Gathering from what Lifeline had released to her, that the room was off limits, to anyone, stated that the medic was solely responsible for the creature. What possible role did the medic play in this world?

Recalling last evening's events where she had found Lifeline in the command center, along with Breaker, could it possibly be that he was second in command? Even his authoritative tone could hold true to her thoughts. Lifeline, the preacher's son, the pacifist, had turned into a strong leader. But a capable leader? That had yet to be proven.

Right now, she would not create a rift in the command pecking order. However, if need to be, her leadership qualities could be reinstated. She'd recalled the numerous times she'd been placed in command of the team. One particular memory hovered over her thoughts, the time when Destro had created the Weather Dominator, a machine where Cobra could control the climate around the world. Snow in the desert, ten-pound hail hammering to the ground in Washington D.C. and severe storms in the oceans. During that mission, Cobra had captured Duke and Flint was missing in action. Leadership had turned to her hands for a brief moment until Flint had returned, by entering the command center riding a sheep, along with Mutt and a new teammate, Shipwreck.

Would the Joes look to her now? Look for answers? Would she able to answer their questions, their hopes? Her mind battled for that answer itself. What would she do? Gravely, she did not know for the moment.

Walking inside the building, she headed toward the meeting rooms. Greenshirts passed her in the hallway, some barely acknowledging her presence, others saluting non-stop, until she returned their salute. One stared at her wide eyed with pure fear. It took her only a moment to realize that she had been frowning. Though the Joe count was slim, the Greenshirts held a great population on base. Why?

She rounded the corner and entered the second room to her right. All eyes turned to her direction and for a mere moment, she felt nervous. Clearing her throat, she nodded a greeting to the Joes in the room and settled next to Cover Girl.

Scarlett noted that not many of them were in the meeting room. Only five Joes: Cover Girl, Roadblock with Sock, Wild Bill, Breaker, and herself. The atmosphere in the room felt stale, grim. She glanced to the others in the room, before gazing at the front, to a blank white screen.

Cover Girl turned to her with a encouraging smile and her mouth slightly opened, but the tank jockey's words were not uttered for the door slid opened and Lifeline with another man in a lab jacket walked into the room.

"It's what we feared," Lifeline claimed, frowning as he walked over to the front of the room.

Scarlett noted the others exchanged grim expressions. Whatever Lifeline had stated, it did not take well. She watched the medic stop in front of the screen, click on a button and turn to the man in the lab coat, who remained by the doorway.

"Are you sure, Lifeline?" Wild Bill queried, scratching his head before he shook it.

"Positive," the man in the lab coat stated, walking next to the medical team member. "Cobra is reproducing the pods at an expeditious pace, using the B.E.T."

Scarlett blinked, not only recognizing the voice of the scientist, but also his features. If it had been any other given time, or place, she would have gasped, but she remained passive, continuing to gaze at him.

"Bazooka," she whispered under her breath, locking with his brown eyes, which now bore on her own.

Bazooka gave her a nod, his face remaining serious, not even a smidgen of a smile. He turned to the others, then looked to Lifeline, who nodded his permission for him to continue. He clicked on a button, which dimmed the lights in the room, and a picture came to focus on the screen.

"Looks like Cobra's been busy multiplying the pods. There must be thousands of them," Cover Girl said in a low tone, but it took seconds for Scarlett to realize that Cover Girl was describing the picture to Roadblock, who shook his head in disgust.

Gazing at the picture before her, Scarlett blinked a few times, disbelieving the image right in front of her eyes! She was there when the pods and Cobra La were destroyed. None had survived. The Joes saw to that. However, in this world, Cobra La survived and by the looks of it, thrived.

The plants looked ripe, ready for the spores to be sent to space. Once there, the seeds would burst open, transforming every human being on Earth into a monster. A shiver went down her spine and she felt the stone grow heavy once more. Could it feel her emotions? she mused. But how could that be?

Her gaze shifted back to Bazooka who now held the golden B. A. T.'s head. It looked exactly like the dozen others she had seen the evening before, but this particular head had a silver stripe in the middle of its skull.

"Judging from the information that the Cobra B. A.T. held in its computer data base, it also shows that Cobra is after the core." Lifeline looked to Bazooka.

The core? Scarlett felt baffled for the moment. She looked to Cover Girl but the tank jockey held her attention to her husband and Bazooka.

Bazooka cleared his throat, taking up the implication in the medic's tone. "The sphere," he began, while tapping the B.A.T. head a few times, causing it to open in two halves, revealing a glowing round object hovering in mid-air. "Indicates the potential completion of the core from the images withdrawn from the data base. The cervix exhibits that Cobra has located five of the crystals. If they succeed in recovering the last crystal, and completing the core, the B.E.T. will be back in working order."

"Then we have to make sure that Cobra does not get a hold of the last crystal," Scarlett found herself saying, her gaze glued to the pods.

They all turned to her, watching her intensely. Had she said something she shouldn't have?

"Correct, Scarlett." Bazooka walked up to the table, placing his hand on the wooden surface. "However, considering our circumstances, it's in my perspective that Cobra may obtain the crystal in a short time."

Scarlett gazed at Bazooka, allowing herself to comprehend his present state. Bazooka, the heavyset, bubble gum chewing, football jersey uniformed, baseball card collecting, simple-minded G. I. Joe member, would never had constructed such intelligent wording. The Bazooka in front of her stood apart from the one whom she knew. This Bazooka wore a lab coat, with a red shirt underneath, with the Joe insignia embroidered in small letters. His dark hair was combed neatly to the side, unlike his counterpart in her world, who barely let a brush touch the untamed thatch.

"No!" Cover Girl shot straight up from her seat, glaring at Bazooka. "I will die first, just like the others have done to protect that crystal! Cobra is never going to posses it!

Lifeline took a step forward, with a frown on his face. "Courtney, calm down," he requested his wife, but Scarlett wondered if that was indeed a request or a command. He turned to Bazooka. "The crystal is in a highly secured area. It remains safe for the moment."

"For the moment," Bazooka mumbled, walking away from the table and back to the B. A. T. head. He raked a hand through his dark hair and let out a slow breath. "The B. E. T. is not the only purpose I've requested this meeting."

Scarlett looked from the scientist to the medic. Everything began to make sense. The battle, the Cobra attack last evening. It wasn't a mission to rescue Cobra Commander, but to retrieve the last component in order to make the B. E. T. fully functional. The crystal must be somewhere hidden in Joe Headquarters and by the looks of it, Lifeline could be the person who held that classified information.

However, another disturbing thought tugged on her mind. The B. E. T. activated with seven large microchip-resembling components, not crystals. Could in this world, the Broadcast Energy Transmitter operate differently? And why crystals? Surely, she prayed, these were not the crystals which Cobra had created. The same crystals that if touched, could create a massive explosion, leaving nothing but dust behind!

She blinked, realizing that the picture on the screen had changed. Gone were the pods and the current image showed a wall made of plant thorns. Her gaze scanned the picture, spotting the red scaled insect people that inhabited Cobra La, but her quick eye also caught something else. Right next to the Cobra La soldiers, right by their feet. A boot, its tip showing underneath a small crack in the wall.

Simultaneously they all stood up, chairs pushed backward, gazing at the picture and all coming to the same conclusion.

"They're alive!" Cover Girl broke the silence with a soft sob. "It's them. I know it's them!"

"Or it could be ruse to make us think it is them," Lifeline bitterly reminded them. "It could be another trap."

Cover Girl shook her head at her husband. "No, it's them! That has to be Lady Jaye or Gung Ho!"

"Or Alpine!" Bazooka added, staring at the boot in the photograph.

"We must rescue them!" Wild Bill claimed, taking off his western hat and throwing it on the table. "Let's get in the choppers, go through the tunnel and release our buddies from the pits of hell!"

Roadblock cleared his throat, getting the group's attention. "I say we think before rushing off to another heroic deed."

"Roadblock is right," Scarlett agreed. "If we try and rescue them, we may wind up in that same cell." She recalled Cobra La, the insect soldiers, the creatures, the man-eating plants. Rushing into battle blind could mean their demise.

Lifeline nodded toward her. "We need a battle strategy before taking any sort of action." He placed his hands behind him as he began to pace and cautiously glance to each Joe member in the room. "Under no circumstances will any of you try an unauthorized rescue mission."

From the corner of her eye, Scarlett watched the others nod toward the medic, who nodded at their approval of his command. It was the evidence she needed to prove her thoughts. Lifeline indeed had risen to commanding officer and from respect, the others would follow his leadership.

She wondered however how they would infiltrate Cobra La and rescue the prisoners. Cover Girl had mentioned that the team had tried numerous occasions to free the others, yet, always failed. The last mission had gone horribly wrong, and that reason could have been because of the traitor on the team. Another dreadful thought occurred in her mind. Could the traitor still be part of the Joe team? No, she was certain that Dusty was not near the Joe base and probably remained part of Cobra's team.

However, there was another reason for her heart to skip a beat. They were outnumbered and judging from the inexperienced Greenshirts, there was no mistake that even if they walked into Cobra La, the team had only a slight chance of winning the battle. She needed to find information, discover what strength and weaknesses inhabited this team of Joes. For instance, she would never place Cover Girl in a Sky Striker, nor would she place Bazooka in battle. The man would be more useful in a laboratory, trying to invent a substance that could easily destroy the pods, or the B. E. T. for that matter than to be placed in the frontline.

"Dismissed," came the command, bringing her out of her thoughts. Scarlett turned to spot Roadblock head out of the room with Sock at his side, followed by Wild Bill.

Lifeline glanced to her before walking over to Bazooka and murmuring softly to the scientist. But, Scarlett's keen ear, caught a few words that the medic spoke. "Don't worry, we will find Alpine."

She watched him shake Bazooka's hand, reassuring the man, before he headed over to his wife. Looking at Bazooka, she could feel his torment, of his best friend who was being held in Cobra's clutches. For as long as she remembered, both Alpine and Bazooka held a strong bond of friendship. She vowed she would do everything in her power to see them both together, laughing, talking and getting into mischief.

"Scarlett, I'll see you in an hour," Cover Girl said, walking over with a weary smile. "I need to head to the Infirmary for an appointment."

"Sure." Scarlett nodded, spotting Lifeline waiting at the doorway of the meeting room, awaiting his wife. She watched the couple leave the room before she released a long breath. The objective was clear, this mission—the one Ying Ty's stone bestowed upon her would be one of her most challenging ones yet and she knew, failure was not an option.

Glancing to the picture one last time, her gaze locked on that brown military boot, hoping its owner still remained alive, she left the room, closing the door behind her. A soft sound caught her attention to her right, making her turn her head toward it. A man's silhouette on the floor moved from down the hallway, rounding the corner, disappearing from her view. Walking briskly, she ventured after the person, only to find not a single trace.

However, she had caught sight of the familiar looking beret and knew instantly that Flint had been listening in on the meeting.


End file.
